•*      %  ifyvf^  r^ 
Hi    ItT  S 

mm  tlv/rVO 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


I/A 


//' 


,i-        «<       ,, 

,  ,'t-t  '.  U/"'    I'll'. 


THE  STEEL  HOBSE 


OR 


THE  RAMBLES  OF  A  BICYCLE 


BY 


HARRY  CASTLEMON 

AUTHOB  OF  "  GUNBOAT  SERIES,"  HOUGHING  IT  SEBIES," 
"  BOD  AND  GUN  SERIES,"  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA 
HENRY  T.  COATES  &  CO. 


FAMOUS  CASTLEMON  BOOKS. 


GUNBOAT  SERIES.    By  HARKY  CASTLEMON.    6  vols.    12mo. 

FRANK  THE  YOUNG  NATURALIST.  FRANK  ON  A  GUNBOAT. 

FRANK  IN  THE  WOODS.  FRANK  BEFORE  VICKSBURG. 

FRANK  ON  THE  LOWER  MISSISSIPPI.        FRANK  ON  THE  PRAIRIE. 

ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  SERIES.     By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.     3  vols.    12ino. 
Cloth. 

FRANK  AMONG  THE  RANCHEROS.        FRANK  AT  DON  CARLOS'  RANCH. 
FRANK  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS. 

SPORTSMAN'S  CLUB  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.    3  vols.  12mo. 

Cloth. 

THE  SPORTSMAN'S  CLUB  IN  THE  SADDLE. 
THE  SPORTSMAN'S  CLUB  AFLOAT. 
THE  SPORTSMAN'S  CLUB  AMONG  THE  TRAPPERS. 

FRANK    NELSON    SERIES.     By   HARRY  CASTLEMON.     3  vols.     12mo. 

Cloth. 
SNOWED  UP.         FRANK  IN  THE  FORECASTLE.         THE  BOY  TRADERS. 

BOY  TRAPPER  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.    3  vols.    12mo.   Cloth. 
THE  BURIED  TREASURE.      THE  BOY  TRAPPER.      THE  MAIL-CARRIER. 

ROUGHING  IT  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.   3  vols.    12mo.    Cloth. 
GEORGE  IN  CAMP.     GEORGE  AT  THE  WHEEL.     GEORGE  AT  THE  FORT. 

ROD  AND  GUN  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.  3  vols.   12mo.    Cloth. 
DON  GORDON'S  SHOOTING  Box.  ROD  AND  GUN  CLUB. 

THE  YOUNG  WILD  FOWLERS. 

GO-AHEAD  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.    3  vols.    12ino.    Cloth. 
TOM  NEWCOMBE.  GO-AHEAD.  No  Moss. 

FOREST  AND  STREAM  SERIES.     By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.  3  vols.  12mo. 

Cloth. 
JOE  WAYRING.  SNAGGED  AND  SUNK.  STEEL  HORSE. 

WAR  SERIES.    By  HARRY  CASTLEMON.    5  vols.    12mo.    Cloth. 
TRUE  TO  HIS  COLORS.  RODNEY  THE  PARTISAN. 

RODNEY  THE  OVERSEER.  MARCY  THE  BLOCKADE-RUNNER. 

MARCY  THE  REFUGEE. 

Other  Volumes  in  Preparation. 

COPYRIGHT,  1888,  BY  PORTER  &  COATES. 


CONTENTS. 


484063 

LIBRARY 


?z 
1 


CHAPTER  PAOB 

I.  IN  WHICH  I  MAKE  MY  Bow,     .           .  .1 

II.  THE  STRANGE  WHEELMAN,    .           .  .25 

III.  A  CASE  OF  MISTAKEN  IDENTITY,           .  .    50 

IV.  ROWE  SHELLY,  THE  RUNAWAY,        .  .         74 
V.  ROY  IN  TROUBLE,            .           .           .  .98 

VI.  ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY,          .  .        121 

VII.  SOME  STARTLING  NEWS,             .           .  .  145 

VIII.  ON  BOARD  THE  WHITE  SQUALL,      .  .        169 

IX.  A  SWIM  IN  ROUGH  WATER,       .           .  .  194 

X.  THE  BOY  WHO  WOULDN'T  BE  PUMPED,  .        219 

XI.  ON  THE  ROAD  AGAIN,     .  243 

XII.  JOE'S  WILD  RIDE,      ....        266 

XIII.  GOING  INTO  A  HOT  PLACE,        .           .  .289 

XIV.  ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE,      .           .  .311 
XV.  MR.  HOLMES'S  WARNING,           .           .  .333 

XVI.  Two  NARROW  ESCAPES,        .           .  .        355 

XVII.  AN  UNEXPECTED  MEETING,       .           .  .  375 

XVIII.  CONCLUSION,     .....       399 


THE  STEEL  HORSE ; 

OB, 

THE  RAMBLES  OF  A  BICYCLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

IN  WHICH  I  MAKE  MY  BOW. 

U  Q GOTLAND'S  a-burning !  Look  out,  fel- 
k3  lows  !    Put  on  the  brakes,  or  you  will 
be  right  on  top  of  it  the    first    thing    you 
know." 

"On  top  of  what?" 

"Why,  can't  you  see?  If  it  hadn't  been 
for  my  kmp  I  should  have  taken  the  worst 
header  anybody  ever  heard  of.  How  some 
fellows  can  run  around  on  their  wheels  after 
dark  without  a  light,  and  take  the  chances  of 
breaking  their  necks,  beats  my  time,  J 
wouldn't  do  it  for  any  money." 


V  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

"Great  Scott!  How  do  you  suppose  that 
pile  of  things  came  on  the  track  \ " 

"  It  isn't  a  pile  of  things.  It  is  a  big  rock 
which  has  rolled  down  from  the  bank  above, 
and  we  have  discovered  it  in  time  to  prevent  a 
terrible  railroad  disaster." 

"  The  rains  loosened  it,  probably." 

"Well,  what  are  we  standing  here  for? 
Let's  take  hold,  all  hands,  and  roll  it  off  before 
the  train  comes  along." 

"  We  can't  roll  it  off.  It's  half  as  big  as 
Rube  Royall's  cabin.  It  seems  strange  to  me 
that  it  stopped  so  squarely  in  the  middle  of 
the  track.  I  should  think  it  ought  to  have 
gathered  headway  enough  during  its  descent 
to  roll  clear  across  the  roadbed,  and  down  into 
the  gulf  on  the  other  side." 

The  speakers  were  your  old  friends  Joe  Way- 
ring  and  his  two  chums,  Roy  Sheldon  and  Ar- 
thur Hastings  ;  and  I  am  one  of  the  Expert 
Columbias  who  were  introduced  to  your  notice 
in  the  concluding  chapters  of  the  second  vol- 
ume of  this  series  of  books.  I  have  been  urged 
by  my  companions  to  describe  the  interesting 
and  exciting  incidents  that  happened  during 


IN   WHICH   I   MAKE   MY   BOW.  3 

our  vacation  run  from  one  end  of  the  State  to 
the  other  and  back  again,  on  which  we  set  out 
just  a  week  ago  to-day.  I  have  begun  the  task 
with  many  misgivings.  This  is  my  iirst  appear- 
ance as  a  story-teller  ;  but  then  my  friends, 
Old  Durability  and  the  Canvas  Canoe,  labored 
under  the  same  disadvantage.  When  I  am 
through  it  will  be  for  you  to  decide  which  one 
of  us  has  interested  you  the  most. 

You  will  remember  that  when  the  Canvas 
Canoe's  adventures  were  ended  for  the  season 
and  he  was  "laid up  in  ordinary"  (by  which 
I  mean  the  recess  in  Joe  Wayring's  room),  it 
was  midwinter.  The  ponds  and  lakes  were 
frozen  over,  and  the  hills  surrounding  the  little 
village  of  Mount  Airy  were  covered  with  snow. 
The  canoe  had  just  been  hauled  up  from  the 
bottom  of  Indian  Eiver,  where  he  had  lain  for 
four  long,  dismal  months,  wondering  what  was 
to  become  of  him  and  the  six  thousand  dollars 
lie  had  carried  down  with  him  when  he  was 
"  Snagged  and  Sunk"  by  the*big  tree  that  was 
carried  out  of  Slier  win's  Pond  by  the  high 
water.  You  know  that  Roy  Sheldon  discov- 
ered him  with  the  aid  of  his  "  water-scope," 


4  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

that  Joe  got  His  canoe  back  (a  little  the  worse 
for  his  captivity,  it  must  be  confessed,  for  there 
was  a  gaping  wound  in  his  side),  and  that  the 
money  quickly  found  its  way  into  the  hands 
of  the  officers  of  the  Irvington  bank,  from  whom 
it  had  been  stolen  by  the  two  sneak-thieves 
who  were  finally  captured  by  Mr.  Swan  and 
his  party. 

Before  this  happened  Matt  Coyle's  wife  and 
boys  had  been  shut  up  in  the  New  London  jail 
to  await  their  trial,  which  was  to  come  off  as 
soon  as  Matt  himself  had  been  arrested.  The 
truth  of  the  matter  was,  the  Indian  Lake 
guides  were  so  incensed  at  Matt  for  his  daring 
and  persistent  efforts  to  break  up  their  busi- 
ness and  to  ruin  the  two  hotels  at  the  lake, 
that  they  threatened  to  make  short  work  of 
him  and  all  his  worthless  tribe  ;  and  as  the 
guides  were  men  who  never  said  a  thing  of  this 
sort  unless  they  meant  it,  the  authorities  were 
of  opinion  that  the  old  woman  and  the  boys 
would  be  safer  in  the  New  London  lock-up 
than  they  would  be  if  confined  in  the  tumble- 
down calaboose  at  Irvington.  But  now  it 
appeared  that  Matt  Coyle  could  not  be  arrested 


IN   WHICH   I   MAKE   MY   BOW.  5 

and  brought  to  trial,  for  the  good  and  sufficient 
reason  that  he  was  dead.  He  was  drowned 
when  the  canvas  canoe  was  snagged  and  sunk. 
Joe  Wayring  and  his  chums  declared,  from 
the  first,  that  if  the  squatter  had  attempted  to 
run  out  of  the  river  into  Sherwin's  Pond  dur- 
ing the  freshet  that  prevailed  at  the  time  of  his 
flight,  he  had  surely  come  to  grief.  If  three 
strong  boys,  who  were  expert  with  the  oars, 
could  not  pull  a  light  skiff  against  the  current 
that  ran  out  of  the  pond,  how  could  Matt  Coyle 
hope  to  stem  it  in  a  heavily-loaded  canoe  and 
with  a  single  paddle  ?  If  he  had  been  foolish 
enough  to  try  it,  he  would  never  be  heard  of 
again  until  his  body  was  picked  up  somewhere 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  State  hatchery.  The 
finding  of  the  canoe  and  his  valuable  cargo  at 
the  bottom  of  the  river  led  others  to  Joe's  way 
of  thinking,  and  it  was  finally  conceded  on  all 
hands  that  the  squatter  would  never  again  rob 
unguarded  camps,  or  renew  his  attempts  to 
"  break  up  the  business  of  guiding."  Nothing 
remained,  then,  but  to  remove  his  wife  and 
boys  to  Irvington  and  hold  them  for  trial  at 
the  next  term  of  the  circuit  court.  The  grand 


6  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

jury  first  took  the  matter  in  hand,  and  Joe 
Wayring  and  his  chums,  much  to  their  dis- 
gust, were  summoned  to  appear  before  it  as 
witnesses. 

When  Tom  Bigden  and  his  cousins,  Loren 
and  Ralph  Farnsworth,  heard  of  that,  they 
shook  in  their  boots.  And  well  they  might ; 
for,  as  you  know,  Tom  was  accessory  to  some 
of  Matt' s  violations  of  the  law.  More  than  that, 
rumor  said  that  the  old  woman  had  told  all  she 
knew,  and  that  she  had  even  gone  so  far  as  to 
assure  the  officers  of  the  Irvington  Bank  that 
she  and  her  family  would  not  have  been  half 
so  bad  as  they  were,  if  one  Tom  Bigden  had  not 
advised  and  urged  them  to  commit  crime. 

"It's  all  over  with  me,  boys,"  groaned  Tom, 
when  one  of  his  school-fellows  incidentally  re- 
marked in  his  hearing  that  lie  had  seen  Joe 
Wayring  and  his  two  friends  take  the  train  for 
Irvington  that  morning  to  testify  before  the 
grand  jury.  "  You  know  Joe  is  jealous  of 
me  and  that  he  will  do  anything  he  can  to  in- 
jure me." 

"  Well,  "  said  Ralph,  plunging  his  hands 
deep  into  his  pockets  and  looking  thoughtfully 


IN   WHICH   I  MAKE  MY  BOW.  7 

at  the  ground,  "what  would  you  do  to  a  fel- 
low who  was  the  means  of  having  you  tied  to 
a  tree  with  a  fair  prospect  of  a  good  beating 
with  hickory  switches  on  your  bare  back  ? 
Would  you  be  friendly  to  him  or  feel  like 
shielding  him  from  punishment?" 

"  But  I  didn't  tell  Matt  to  tie  Joe  Wayring 
to  a  tree  and  thrash  him,  "  retorted  Tom.  "  I 
never  thought  of  such  a  thing." 

"  I  didn't  say  you  did,  "  replied  Ralph.  "  I 
said  you  were  the  cause  of  it,  and  so  you  were  ; 
for  you  told  Matt  that  you  had  seen  the  valises 
that  contained  the  six  thousand  stolen  dollars 
in  Joe's  camp-basket." 

"Matt  was  a  fool  to  believe  it,"  said  Loren. 
"One  little  camp-basket  wouldn't  hold  both 
those  gripsacks." 

"That  doesn't  alter  the  facts  of  the  case," 
answered  Ralph.  ' '  Matt  did  believe  the  story, 
ridiculous  as  it  was,  and  Tom's  fate  is  in  the 
hands  of  a  boy  whom  we  have  abused  and 
bothered  in  all  possible  ways  ever  since  we 
have  been  here." 

"And  we  didn't  have  the  slightest  reason 
or  excuse  for  it,"  added  Loren. 


8  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"  So  you're  going  back  on  me,  are  you  ?  "  ex- 
claimed Tom. 

"Not  at  all.  We  are  simply  telling  you  the 
truth." 

"Perhaps  Joe  doesn't  know  that  Tom 
put  it  into  Matt's  head  to  follow  him  and 
his  friends  to  No-Man's  Pond,"  suggested 
Loren.  "I  haven't  heard  a  word  said 
about  it." 

"Neither  have  I ;  but  that's  no  proof  that 
Joe  doesn't  know  all  about  it,"  answered 
Ralph. 

"Who  do  you  think  told  him  ? "  asked  Tom. 
"  It  couldn't  have  been  Matt  Coyle,  for  I  told 
him  particularly  not  to  mention  my  name  in 
Joe's  hearing,  or  drop  a  hint  that  would  lead 
him  to  suspect  that  Matt  had  seen  me  in  the 
Indian  Lake  country." 

"  The  squatter  didn't  care  tliat  for  your  in- 
junctions of  secrecy,"  said  Ralph,  snapping 
his  fingers  in  the  air.  "  What  he  said  to  you 
during  those  interviews  you  held  with  him 
ought  to  convince  you  that  he  would  just  as 
soon  get  you  into  trouble  as  anybody  else. 
Being  a  social  outcast,  Matt  believes  in  mak- 


IN  WHICH  I  MAKE  MY  BOW.  9 

ing  war  upon  every  one  who  is  higher  up  in 
the  world  than  he  is." 

"Well,"  said  Tom,  with  a  sigh  of  resigna- 
tion, "  if  Joe  knows  as  much  as  you  think  he 
does,  my  chances  of  getting  out  of  the  scrapes 
I've  got  into  are  few  and  far  between.  He'll 
tell  everything,  and  be  glad  of  the  chance. 
I  wish  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  that  we  had 
never  seen  or  heard  of  Mount  Airy." 

' '  Joe  Wayring  will  tell  nothing  unless  it  is 
forced  out  of  him,"  said  Ralph  stoutly ;  and 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life  Tom  did  not  scowl 
and  double  up  his  fists  as  he  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  doing  whenever  either  of  his  cousins 
said  anything  in  praise  of  the  boy  he  hated 
without  a  cause.  If  Joe  was  as  honorable  as 
Ralph  seem  to  think  he  was,  Tom  thought 
he  saw  a  chance  to  escape  punishment  for  his 
wrong-doing.  "He'll  not  commit  perjury  nor 
even  stretch  the  truth  to  screen  you,"  contin- 
ued Ralph,  as  if  he  read  the  thoughts  that  were 
passing  in  Tom's  mind.  "But  he'll  not  vol- 
unteer any  evidence  ;  I  am  sure  of  that." 

If  Ralph  had  been  one  of  Joe  Wayring' s  most 
intimate  friends  he  could  not  have  read  him  bet- 


10  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

ter.  The  latter  was  very  much  afraid  that  he 
would  be  compelled  to  say  something  that 
would  criminate  Tom,  but  to  his  surprise  and 
relief  the  members  of  the  grand  jury  did  not 
seem  to  know  that  there  was  such  a  fellow  in 
the  world  as  Tom  Bigden,  for  they  never  once 
mentioned  his  name.  If  the  old  woman  and 
her  boys  had  tried  to  throw  the  blame  for  their 
misdeeds  upon  his  shoulders,  they  hadn't 
made  anything  by  it.  All  the  jury  cared  for 
was  to  find  out  just  how  much  Joe  and  his 
friends  knew  about  the  six  thousand  dollars 
that  had  been  stolen  from  the  Irvington  Bank  ; 
and  as  the  boys  knew  but  little  about  it,  it  did 
not  take  them  long  to  give  their  evidence.  Fi- 
nally one  of  the  jurymen  said : 

"  Matt  Coyle  bothered  you  a  good  deal  by 
stealing  your  canvas  canoe  and  other  property,, 
I  believe." 

Joe  replied  that  that  was  a  fact. 

* k  Would  you  prosecute  him  for  it,  if  you 
had  a  chance  ?" 

Joe  said  he  never  expected  to  have  a  chance, 
because  Matt  was  dead. 

"  Perhaps  he  is,  and  perhaps  he  isn't,"  said 


IN  WHICH   I   MAKE  MY   BOW.  11 

the  juryman,  with  a  laugh.  "  Matt  Coyle  is  a 
hard  case,  if  all  I  hear  about  him  is  true,  and 
it  sorter  runs  in  my  mind  that  he  will  turn  up 
again  some  day,  as  full  of  meanness  as  he  ever 
was." 

"You  wouldn't  think  so  if  you  could  see 
Indian  River  booming  as  it  was  on  the  day  we 
came  home,"  said  Joe,  earnestly.  "It  must 
have  been  a  great  deal  worse  when  Matt  saw 
it,  but  he  had  the  hardihood  to  face  it." 

"  And  went  to  the  bottom,"  added  Roy. 

"Would  you  have  the  law  on  him  for  tying 
you  to  a  tree  and  threatening  to  wallop  you 
with  switches  ?  "  asked  the  juryman. 

"  No  sir,  I  would  not,"  said  Joe,  truthfully. 
"  All  we  ask  of  Matt  Coyle  or  any  other  tramp 
is  to  keep  away  from  us  and  let  us  alone." 

"Do  you  believe  any  one  told  Matt  that  you 
had  the  bank's  money  and  sent  him  to  No- 
Man's  Pond  to  whip  it  out  of  you  ? " 

"No,  I  don't." 

"Matt's  boys  stick  to  it  that  such  is  the 
fact." 

"I  don't  care  what  Matt's  boys  say  or  what 
they  stick  to,"  answered  Joe.  "You  can 


12  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

imagine  what  the  evidence  of  such  fellows  as 
they  are  amounts  to.  Folks  who  will  steal  are 
not  above  lying,  are  they  ? " 

"  That  juryman  isn't  half  as  smart  as  he 
thinks  he  is,"  said  Roy,  when  he  and  his  com- 
panions had  been  dismissed  with  the  informa- 
tion that  they  might  start  'for  Mount  Airy  as 
soon  as  they  pleased.  "I  was  awfully  afraid 
that  his  next  question  would  be :  '  Did  you 
ever  hear  that  Tom  Bigden  was  accessory  to 
Matt  Coyle's  assault  upon  you  at  ISTo-Man's 
Pond?'  You  could  not  have  wiggled  out  of 
that  corner,  Mr.  Wayring." 

"I  didn't  wiggle  out  of  any  corner,"  an- 
swered Joe.  "  I  made  replies  to  all  the  ques- 
tions he  asked  me,  didn't  I  ?  That  juryman 
knew  his  business  too  well  to  ask  me  any  such 
question  as  that.  My  answer  would  have  been 
simply  hearsay,  and  that's  not  evidence.  See 
the  point?" 

"Why,  didn't  Jake  Coyle  declare  in  your 
hearing  that  Tom  Bigden  told  his  father  that 
the  money  was  in  your  camp-basket?"  de- 
manded Arthur. 

"Well,  what's  that  but  hearsay?      Do  you 


IN  WHICH   I   MAKE  MY   BOW.  13 

expect  me  to  take  Jake's  word  for  anything? 
I  didn't  hear  Tom  tell  him  so." 

"K"o;  but  you  have  as  good  proof  as  any 
sensible  boy  needs  that  Tom  did  it.  If  not, 
why  did  Matt  fly  into  such  a  rage  at  the  men- 
tion of  his  name,  and  cut  Jake's  face  so  un- 
mercifully with  that  switch  ? " 

"I  don't  believe  that  would  pass  for  evi- 
dence, although  it  might  lead  the  jury  to  put 
a  little  more  faith  in  Jake's  story  and  Sam's," 
answered  Joe.  "  We  didn't  come  here  to  get 
Tom  into  trouble.  Didn't  they  say  at  the 
start  that  all  they  wanted  of  us  was  to  tell 
what  we  knew  about  that  money?  We've 
done  that,  and  my  conscience  is  clear.  I  think 
Tom  will  take  warning  and  mind  what  he  is 
about  in  future." 

"I'll  bet  you  he  won't,"  Roy  declared. 
"  He'll  get  you  into  difficulty  of  some  sort  the 
very  first  good  chance  he  gets." 

"  If  he  does,  and  I  can  fasten  it  on  him,  I'll 
give  him  such  a  punching  that  his  cousins 
won't  know  him  when  they  see  him.  I'm  get- 
ting tired  of  this  sort  of  work,  and  I'll  not  put 
up  with  it  any  longer.  If  Tom  will  not  leave 


14  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

off  bothering  us  of  his  own  accord,  I'll  make 
him." 

In  due  time  the  jury  returned  a  "true  bill" 
against  Jake  Coyle  for  burglary.  Mr.  Has- 
kins  had  little  difficulty  in  proving  that  Jake 
broke  the  fastenings  of  his  door  before  he 
robbed  the  cellar,  gave  a  list  of  the  things  he 
had  lost,  and  Rube  Roy  all,  the  watchman  at 
the  hatchery,  testified  that  those  same  articles 
appeared  on  Matt  Coyle' s  table  on  the  follow- 
ing morning.  Jake  went  to  the  House  of 
Refuge  for  five  years  ;  but  nothing  could  be 
proved  against  Sam  and  the  old  woman,  and 
they  were  turned  over  to  a  justice  of  the 
peace  to  be  tried  for  vagrancy.  They  got 
ninety  days  each  in  the  New  London  work- 
house. 

"There,  Ralph,"  said  Tom,  when  he  read 
this  welcome  news  in  his  father's  paper. 
"You  said  Matt  Coyle  didn't  care  the  snap  of 
his  finger  for  my  wishes,  but  now  you  see  that 
you  were  mistaken,  don't  you?  Matt  never 
told  Joe  Wayring  that  I  sent  them  to  his  camp 
after  that  money,  and  his  boys  didn't  blab  it, 
either.  If  they  had,  Joe  would  have  said  some- 


IN   WHICH   I   MAKE  MY   BOW.  15 

thing  about  it  when  lie  was  brought  before  the 
grand  jury." 

"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  to  Joe 
now?"  inquired  his  cousin.  "I  mean,  what 
kind  of  a  scrape  are  you  going  to  get  into 
next?" 

"I  do  not  intend  to  get  into  any  scrape," 
answered  Tom  ;  and  when  he  said  it  he  meant 
it.  "I  shall  treat  Joe  and  everybody  who 
likes  him  with  the  contempt  they  deserve.  I 
wish  I  might  never  see  them  again.  I  tell  you, 
fellows,  I  feel  as  if  a  big  load  had  been  taken 
from  my  shoulders.  Matt  will  never  again  de- 
mand that  I  shall  act  as  receiver  for  the  prop- 
erty he  steals,  his  vagabond  family  are  safe 
under  lock  and  key,  I  am  free  from  suspicion, 
and  what  more  could  I  ask  for  ?  For  once  in 
my  life  I  am  perfectly  happy." 

But,  as  it  happened,  Tom  was  not  long  per- 
mitted to  live  in  this  very  enviable  frame  of 
mind — not  more  than  a  couple  of  hours,  to  be 
exact.  Of  late  he  had  stayed  pretty  close 
around  the  house  when  he  was  not  at  school. 
He  could  not  bear  to  loaf  about  the  village,  as 
he  used  to  do,  for  fear  that  he  might  hear 


16  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

something  annoying.  But  on  this  particular 
day  (it  was  Saturday)  he  was  so  light  of  heart 
that  he  could  not  keep  still,  so  he  proposed  a 
walk  and  a  cigar.  He  and  his  cousins  did  not 
mind  smoking  on  the  streets  now,  for  they  had 
long  ago  given  up  all  hope  of  ever  being  ad- 
mitted to  the  ranks  of  the  Toxoph elites.  But 
their  desire  to  belong  to  that  crack  and  some- 
what exclusive  organization  was  as  strong  as 
ever.  Another  thing,  they  were  not  on  as 
friendly  terms  with  the  drug-store  crowd  as 
they  used  to  be.  A  decision  rendered  by  um- 
pire Bigden  during  a  game  of  ball  excited  the 
ire  of  George  Prime  and  some  of  his  friends,  and 
as  the  weeks  rolled  on  the  dispute  waxed  so 
hot  that  on  more  than  one  occasion  the  ad- 
herents of  both  sides  had  been  called  on  to 
interfere  to  keep  George  and  Tom  from  coming 
to  blows  over  it.  Ralph  reminded  his  cousin 
of  this  when  the  latter  proposed  a  walk  and  a 
cigar. 

"Oh,  Prime  has  forgotten  all  about  it  before 
this  time,"  said  Tom  confidently.  "He  has 
had  abundant  leisure  to  recover  his  good- 
nature, for  the  fuss  began  last  fall." 


IN   WHICH   I   MAKE   MY   BOW.  17 

"  Don't  you  owe  him  something  ? " 

"  Yes  ;  about  fifty  cents  or  so.  But  George 
isn't  mean  enough  to  raise  a  row  about  a  little 
thing  like  that," 

Ralph  and  Loren  had  their  own  ideas  on  that 
point ;  and  when  they  walked  into  the  drug 
store  and  looked  at  the  face  Prime  brought 
with  him  when  he  came  up  to  the  cigar-stand, 
they  told  themselves  that  if  the  clerk  had  had 
opportunity  to  recover  his  good-nature,  he 
certainly  had  not  improved  it.  He  looked  as 
sour  as  a  green  apple. 

"Hallo,  George,"  said  Tom,  cordially. 

"  How  are  you  ! "  was  the  gruff  reply. 

' '  Fine  day  outside, ' '  continued  Tom.  ' *  Been 
sleigh-riding  much  ? " 

"  A  time  or  two.    What  do  you  want  ? " 

"  Some  cigars,  please." 

Prime  languidly  reached  his  hand  into  the 
show-case  and  brought  out  a  box. 

"Chalk  these,  will  you  ?"  said  Tom,  after 
he  and  his  cousin  had  made  their  selections. 

Without  saying  a  word  the  clerk  turned 
and  walked  toward  the  prescription  counter 
at  the  back  part  of  the  store.  Tom  evidently 


18  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

thought  the  matter  settled,  for  he  gave  Ralph 
the  wink,  lighted  his  cigar  and  was  about  to 
go  out  when  Prime  called  to  him.  Tom  faced 
around,  and  saw  that  he  held  in  his  hand 
something  that  looked  like  a  package  of  bills. 

"I'll  chalk  this,  because  you've  got  the 
cigars  and  I  can't  very  well  help  myself,"  said 
Prime,  as  he  came  up.  "  But  the  next  time 
you  want  anything  in  our  line  you  had  better 
come  prepared  to  settle  up.  Do  you  know 
how  much  you  owe  the  house  ? " 

"I've  kept  a  pretty  close  run  of  it,"  said 
Tom  shortly,  "and  I  guess  seventy-five  cents 
will  foot  the  bill.  These  weeds  are  three  for  a 
quarter,  I  suppose  ? " 

"That's  the  price;  but  you  owed  me  just 
four  times  seventy-five  cents  before  you  got 
these  last  three.  There's  your  bill  1 " 

Tom  opened  his  eyes  when  he  heard  this. 
He  picked  up  the  paper  that  Prime  tossed  upon 
the  show-case  before  himr  and  saw  that,  if  the 
figures  on  it  told  the  truth,  he  had  smoked 
much  oftener  than  he  supposed. 

"George,  "said  he,  as  soon  as  he  could 
speak,  "  I  don't  owe  you  three  dollars." 


IN   WHICH   I   MAKE    MY   BOW.  19 

"  You  owe  me  three  dollars  and  a  quarter, 
counting  in  the  three  you  just  got,"  was 
Prime's  reply. 

"I  say  I  don't;  and  what's  more  to  the 
point,  I  won't  pay  it.  If  you  want  to  impose 
upon  somebody  and  make  him  pay  for  cigars 
that  you  have  smoked  yourself,  try  some  one 
else.  You  can't  come  it  over  me." 

"  You  mean  to  repudiate  your  honest  debts, 
do  you  ? "  said  Prime  hotly.  "  Well,  I  don't 
know  that  I  ought  to  have  expected  anything 
else  of  you.  A  fellow  who  will  associate  with 
tramps  and  thieves,  as  you  have  done  ever 
since  you  poked  your  meddlesome  nose  into 
Mount  Airy,  is  capable  of  anything.'' 

"  Look  here,"  said  Tom,  his  face  growing 
red  and  pale  by  turns.  "Step  out  from 
behind  the  counter  and  say  that  again,  will 
you?" 

"  I  can  talk  just  as  well  from  where  I  stand," 
was  Prime's  answer  ;  and  then  he  clenched  one 
of  his  hands  and  pounded  lightly  upon  the 
top  of  the  show-case  while  he  looked  fixedly  at 
Tom.  "Perhaps  you  think  because  you  were 
in  the  woods  when  these  things  happened  that 


20  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

the  folks  in  Mount  Airy  don' t  know  all  about 
them,"  lie  went  on. 

"What  things?"  Tom  managed  to  ask, 
while  Ralph  and  Loren  nerved  themselves  for 
what  was  coming. 

"  What  things  !  "  repeated  Prime,  in  a  tone 
that  almost  drove  Tom  frantic.  "Don't  you 
suppose  I  know  as  well  as  you  do  that  when 
Matt  Coyle  stole  Joe  Wayring's  canvas  canoe 
a  year  ago  last  summer,  he  did  it  with  your 
knowledge  and  consent  ?  I  will  say  more  than 
that.  You  urged  him  to  take  it." 

"  Why — why,  you—1'  Tom  began,  and  then 
he  paused.  There  was  a  look  on  Prime's  face 
which  told  him  that  there  was  more  behind  ; 
and  now  that  he  was  in  for  it,  Tom  thought  it 
would  be  a  good  plan  to  iind  out  just  how 
much  the  Mount  Airy  people  knew  of  his 
dealings  with  the  squatter. 

"It  has  all  come  out  on  you,"  continued 
Prime.  "And  I  know,  too,  that  it  was 
through  the  information  you  gave  him  that 
Matt  followed  Wayring  to  No-Man's  Pond  and 
committed  that  assault  upon  him." 

"  The  idea !  "  exclaimed  Tom,  trying  to  look 


IIST   WHICH   I   MAKE  MY   BOW.  21 

surprised,  though  inwardly  he  quaked  with 
fear.  ' '  I  never  told  Matt  to  follow  Joe  Way- 
ring  to  No-Man's  Pond.  I  never  saw  him 
while  I  was  in  the  woods, — did  I,  boys?"  he 
added,  appealing  to  his  cousins. 

"I  know  a  story  worth  half  a  dozen  of  that," 
said  the  clerk,  before  either  Ralph  or  Loren 
could  collect  their  wits  for  a  reply.  "Some  of 
the  sportsmen  who  were  stopping  at  one  of  the 
Indian  Lake  hotels  saw  you  wait  for  him  at  a 
certain  place  for  more  than  an  hour  ;  and  when 
at  last  Matt  arrived,  you  held  quite  a  lengthy 
consultation  with  him." 

Tom  was  so  amazed  that  he  could  not  utter 
a  word.  Prime  seemed  to  have  the  story  pretty 
straight — so  straight,  in  fact,  that  Loren  did 
not  think  it  best  for  him  to  deny  it ;  so  he 
hastened -to  say: 

"  If  all  these  ridiculous  things  which  you  say 
you  have  heard  are  true,  how  does  it  happen 
that  they  did  not  come  before  the  Grand 
Jury?" 

"There  were  two  good  reasons  for  it," 
answered  Prime.  "In  the  first  place,  there 
was  no  one  to  appear  against  Tom  ;  and  in  the 


22  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

second,  Jake  Coyle,  who  was  the  only  one  of  the 
family  tried  before  the  Circuit  Court,  was  not 
accused  of  stealing  the  canoe  or  of  making  an 
assault  upon  Joe  Wayring.  He  was  charged 
with  breaking  open  the  door  of  Haskins's 
cellar,  and  for  that  he  received  his  sentence. 
If  Matt  Coyle  had  been  on  trial,  there  would 
have  been  other  and  more  interesting  develop- 
ments. I  tell  you,  Mr.  Bigden,  it  was  a  lucky 
thing  for  you  that  he  was  drowned." 

"Now,  let  me  say  a  word  in  your  private 
ear,"  said  Tom,  who  had  had  time  to  take  a 
hasty  review  of  the  situation.  "  There  is  such 
a  thing  as  wagging  your  tongue  too  freely, 
and  it  constitutes  an  offense  of  which  the  law 
sometimes  takes  notice.  You  don't  want  to 
publish  the  outrageous  stories  you  pretend  to 
have  heard  of  me.  They  are  false  from  be- 
ginning to  end." 

"Why,  bless  your  heart,  I  can't  publish 
them,"  answered  the  clerk,  with  a  most  pro- 
voking laugh.  "The  facts  are  as  well  known 
to  other  folks  as  they  are  to  me.  Every  man. 
boy,  and  girl  you  meet  on  the  street  knows 
them  by  heart." 


IN   WHICH  I   MAKE   MY   BOW.  23 

This  astounding  piece  of  news  fairly  stag- 
gered Tom.  While  he  was  trying  to  frame  a 
suitable  rejoinder  a  party  of  ladies  came  into 
the  store,  and  the  clerk  hastened  away  to  at- 
tend to  them.  This  gave  Tom  and  his  cousins 
an  opportunity  to  escape,  and  they  were  prompt 
to  avail  themselves  of  it. 

''Worse  and  worse !"  exclaimed  Loren,  as 
soon  as  he  could  speak  freely  without  fear  of 
being  overheard.  "Tom,  Tom,  what  have  you 
brought  upon  yourself  !  " 

* '  I  was  afraid  that  something  of  this  kind 
would  be  sprung  upon  me  sooner  or  later," 
groaned  the  guilty  boy.  "Every  girl  I  meet 
on  the  street  knows  all  about  it,"  he  added, 
recalling  the  clerk's  last  words.  "I  don't  be- 
lieve it.  Or,  if  they  have  heard  about  it,  they 
don't  take  any  stock  in  it,  for  I  have  received 
just  as  many  invitations  and  gone  to  as  many 
parties  as  I  ever  did.  Can  you  two  raise  three 
dollars  and  a  quarter  between  you  ?  Then  lend 
it  to  me,  and  I  will  get  Prime's  debt  off  my 
mind  without  a  moment's  delay." 

"That's  the  idea,"  said  Ralph,  approvingly. 
"  Go  now  while  those  ladies  are  in  the  store, 


24  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

and  lie    can't  say  anything  more  to  annoy 
you." 

Loren  had  a  five-dollar  bill  which  he  handed 
over,  and  Tom  got  it  broken  at  the  most  con- 
venient place,  because  he  did  not  want  to  wait 
for  Prime  to  make  change.  He  laid  the  exact 
amount  of  his  indebtedness  upon  the  counter, 
pocketed  his  receipted  bill,  and  left  the  store 
firmly  resolved  that  he  would  never  cross  its 
threshold  again. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  STRANGE  WHEELMAN. 

LOREN  and  Ralph  often  declared  that  if 
Tom  Bigden's  "cheek"  had  not  been 
"  monumental,"  he  never  could  have  lived 
through  the  winter  as  he  did.  He  went  every- 
where, and  although,  to  quote  from  the 
Canvas  Canoe,  he  did  not  "  shoot  off  his  chin  " 
qutte  as  much  as  he  formerly  did,  or  take  as 
deep  an  interest  in  things,  he  did  not  by  any 
means  keep  in  the  background,  as  most  boys 
would  have  done  under  like  circumstances. 
As  time  wore  on,  he  and  his  cousins  began  tell- 
ing one  another  that  Prime  did  not  confine 
himself  to  the  truth  when  he  said  that  every 
one  in  the  village  knew  how  intimate -Tom  and 
Matt  Coyle  had  been  during  the  two  last  sum- 
mers, for  certainly  he  was  as  well  treated  and 
as  cordially  received  wherever  he  went  as  he 
ever  was.  Joe  Wa}*ring  and  his  friends  always 


26  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

had  a  good  word  for  him,  and  that  went  far 
toward  satisfying  Tom  that  they  did  not  be- 
lieve he  had  anything  to  do  with  the  loss  of 
the  canvas  canoe  or  with  the  No-Man's  Pond 
affair.  It  was  not  long  before  their  example 
and  silent  influence  began  to  tell  upon  Tom, 
who  more  than  once  astonished  his  cousins  by 
saying,  in  their  hearing,  that  he  believed  it 
would  be  worth  while  for  him  to  turn  over  a 
new  leaf  and  try  to  lead  a  better  life. 

Meanwhile  Joe  and  his  chums  thoroughly 
enjoyed  themselves  in  a  quiet  way,  as  boys 
always  do  when  they  have  abounding  health, 
clear  consciences,  and  plenty  of  things  around 
them  to  make  life  pleasant.  In  company  with 
some  of  their  school-fellows,  of  whom  Tom 
Bigden  and  his  cousins  generally  made  three, 
they  paid  several  visits  to  Indian  River  to  fish 
through  the  ice  for  pickerel,  going  Friday 
night  and  returning  Saturday.  They  saw  any 
amount  of  sport  during  these  short  outings, 
and  always  brought  home  a  fine  string  of  fish  ; 
but  they  never  drew  so  valuable  a  prize  from 
the  river  as  Joe  and  his  friends  did  when  they 
went  there  during  the  winter  vacation.  JSToth- 


THE  STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  27 

ing  ever  happened  to  mar  their  pleasure 
during  these  encampments,  not  even  when 
Roy  took  Tom  Bigden  to  task  somewhat 
sharply  for  shooting  a  grouse  after  the  first  of 
January.  Tom  pleaded  ignorance  of  the  law, 
promised  never  to  do  it  again,  and  so  the 
offense  was  overlooked. 

But  winter  with  its  storms  and  drifts  and 
sports  passed  away,  and  spring  came  with  the 
usual  alternations  of  driving  rains  and  high 
winds  which  quickly  cleared  the  lake  of  ice, 
and  made  the  huge  limbs  of  the  grand  old 
trees  on  the  lawn  sway  about  in  every  direc- 
tion. Finally  the  croaking  of  frogs  was  heard 
from  the  marshes  and  the  maple  buds  ap- 
peared ;  whereupon  sleds,  skates  and  tobog- 
gans were  tumbled  unceremoniously  into  some 
convenient  corner,  to  be  taken  care  of  when 
other  duties  were  not  quite  so  pressing,  and  Joe 
and  his  inseparable  companions  shouldered  their 
double-barrels  and  sallied  out  in  search  of 
snipe.  But  in  due  time  hunting  gave  way  to 
trout-fishing ;  and  I  have  heard  it  said  that 
Old  Durability  held  his  own,  and  captured 
quite  as  many  fish  as  any  rod  that  was  brought 


28  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

into  competition  with  him.  Occasionally  I 
heard  Joe  boast  over  some  extra  fine  strings 
Fly-rod  had  taken  for  him  ;  but  as  I  was  kept 
closely  confined  to  my  quarters  I  did  not  see 
them. 

At  last  my  time  came.  As  soon  as  the  spring 
rains  ceased  and  the  mud  disappeared  and  the 
roads  became  ridable,  I  was  taken  out  for  a 
spin.  At  first  Joe  rode  with  considerable  cau- 
tion, for  he  was  afraid  (so  he  told  his  chums) 
that  I  might  "kick  up  and  throw  him";  but 
his  skill  came  back  with  practice,  and  before  a 
week  had  passed  we  were  on  exceedingly  good 
terms.  He  devoted  nearly  all  his  leisure  time 
to  me,  and  although  he  kept  up  his  member- 
ship with  the  various  organizations  to  which 
he  belonged,  he  was  not  unfrequently  called 
upon  to  hand  over  a  fine  that  had  been  im- 
posed upon  him  for  non-attendance  of  drills 
and  parades.  Of  course  the  annual  review  of 
the  Mount  Airy  Fire  Department  was  not  for- 
gotten, but  the  canoe  meet  was,  and  for  the 
first  time  in  years  the  summer  passed  without 
a  single  struggle  for  the  championship  of 
Mirror  Lake.  The  boys  who  were  enthusiastic 


THE   STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  29 

canoeists  twelve  months  ago  were  earnest 
wheelmen  now. 

As  soon  as  the  weather  became  settled  a  new 
question  presented  itself  to  Joe  Wayring  and 
his  friends,  and  it  was  one  that  could  not  be 
decided  at  a  moment's  notice.  Up  to  ihis  time 
it  had  been  understood  that  there  was  but  one 
place  at  which  their  summer  vacation  could  be 
passed,  and  that  place  was  Indian  Lake  ;  but 
four  weeks  of  comparative  inactivity  were  not 
to  be  thought  of  this  year. 

"Of  course  if  we  go  to  the  lake  we  shall 
have  more  fishing  and  see  less  excitement  than 
we  did  last  year  and  the  year  before,  because 
Matt  Coyle  will  not  be  there  to  trouble  us," 
said  Arthur.  "  But  rolling  about  on  a  blan- 
ket under  the  shade  of  an  evergreen  is  slow 
work  compared  with  a  brisk  run  over  good 
roads  on  a  horse  who  never  tires,  and  who  asks 
nothing  but  a  good  rubbing,  and  no  oats,  when 
his  day's  task  is  done,  to  keep  him  in  good 
trim.  Camping  out  makes  a  fellow  too  lazy 
for  any  use  ;  and  I  am  not  as  much  in  favor  of 
being  lazy  as  I  used  to  be." 

"It  is  quite  the  fashion  for  wheelmen  to 


30  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

start  Gff  singly  or  in  small  parties,  and  travel 
through  the  country  and  see  what  they  can 
find  that  is  worth  looking  at,"  said  Roy. 
"Let's  send  for  a  guide-book  and  go  some- 
where/' 

"That's  what  I  say,"  replied  Joe.  "But 
what  guide-book  shall  we  send  for,  and  where 
shall  we  go? " 

"Through  our  own  State,  of  course.  Uncle 
Joe  Wayring  says  that  a  fellow  ought  not  to 
visit  foreign  countries  until  he  has  seen  the 
wonders  of  his  own." 

"  Of  course  it  is  a  settled  thing  that  we  three 
spend  this  vacation  on  the  road,"  said  Joe. 
"And  when  we  start,  I  propose  that  we  go 
prepared  to  stop  wherever  night  overtakes  us. 
Then  if  we  can't  find  a  hotel,  or  if  the  farmers 
object  to  taking  in  strangers  who  have  no  let- 
ters of  introduction,  we  can  camp  by  the 
road- side,  and  snap  our  fingers  at  people 
who  live  in  houses  and  sleep  under  shingle 
roofs." 

"  How  about  the  grub  ? "  said  Arthur. 

"  Oh,  that'll  be  all  right.  We  do  not  intend 
to  go  outside  of  a  fence,  and  consequently  we 


THE  STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  31 

can  purchase  supplies  anywhere  along  the 
road." 

"We  mustn't  forget  to  take  our  pocket 
fishing- tackle  cases  with  us  and — say,  fellows," 
exclaimed  Roy,  suddenly  interrupting  him- 
self, "I  saw  an  advertisement  the  other  day, 
of  a  Stevens  rifle  furnished  with  a  bicycle 
case,  and  it  struck  me  at  once  that  it  would  be 
a  nice  thing  to  have  along  on  a  trip  of  this 
kind.  If  we  have  one  or  two  of  those  handy 
little  weapons  in  the  party,  we  can  shoot  a 
mess  of  young  squirrels  as  often  as  we  get 
hungry  between  times." 

"  I  wish  we  had  just  one  more  year  on  our 
shoulders,"  said  Arthur,  "  for  then  we  could 
apply  for  admittance  to  the  League  of  Ameri- 
can Wheelmen.  No  doubt  we  would  find 
friends  in  it  who  could  give  us  pointers." 

"  The  year  will  pass  soon  enough,  and  when 
it  has  gone  you  may  wish  it  back  again,"  re- 
plied Joe.  "  It  makes  no  difference  if  we  are 
not  in  the  League.  Wheelmen  are  always 
good  to  one  another,  and  I  shall  make  it  my 
business  to  bounce  every  strange  bicyclist 
who  comes  to  town,  if  I  can  catch  him.  If  he 


32  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

lias  been  on  the  road  I  will  get  some  ideas  out 
of  him  before  I  let  up." 

Roy  and  Arthur  said  that  was  a  suggestion 
worth  acting  upon,  and  the  three  made  such 
good  use  of  the  opportunities  that  were  con- 
stantly presented  that  by  the  time  the  school 
term  was  ended  and  the  long  vacation  came, 
they  considered  themselves  fully  posted  on  all 
important  matters  relating  to  their  proposed 
run  across  the  State  and  back.  The  strange 
wheelmen  who  now  and  then  ran  into  Mount 
Airy  for  a  day  or  two  .proved  to  be  a  jolly, 
companionable  lot  of  fellows,  and  full  of 
stories  of  the  road  which  they  were  as 
ready  to  tell  as  the  boys  were  to  listen  to 
them. 

"Let  me  give  you  one  word  of  warning," 
said  a  bronzed  bicyclist,  who  had  come  all  the 
way  from  Omaha  on  his  wheel:  "Do  not 
neglect  your  training  for  a  single  day.  "I've 
no  doubt  that  you  can  run  all  round  this  little 
burg  without  feeling  any  the  worse  for  it,  but 
you  will  find  that  three  or  four  days  in  the 
saddle  will  test  your  endurance.  I  remember 
of  hearing  of  a  couple  of  wheelmen  who  started 


THE   STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  33 

to  run  from  Cleveland  to  Buffalo.  They  made 
no  special  preparation  for  the  journey,  believ- 
ing, no  doubt,  that  their  short  daily  runs  had 
sufficiently  hardened  their  muscles  ;  but  when 
they  reached  their  destination  they  were  in  a 
somewhat  demoralized. condition.  They  hung 
around  the  Genesee  House  for  a  day  or  two, 
and  took  the  cars  when  they  wanted  to  go 
home." 

"We'll  never  do  that,"  said  Arthur.  "If 
our  wheels  take  us  away  from  home  they  must 
bring  us  back." 

"Well,"  said  the  Veteran,  "you  will  find 
that  it  will  take  a  good  many  motions  with 
the  pedals  to  carry  you  over  a  journey  of  seven 
hundred  miles ;  but  get  yourselves  in  good 
trim  before  you  start,  inquire  your  way  at 
every  place  you  stop,  steer  clear  of  tramps, 
look  out  for  skittish  horses,  keep  off  the  tow- 
path,  don't  get  mad  if  you  meet  some  old 
curmudgeon  who  will  not  give  you  your  share 
of  the  road,  and  you  will  come  out  all  right 
and  have  a  splendid  time  besides.  You'll 
sleep  as  you  never  slept  before,  eat  every 
crumb  placed  within  your  reach  on  the  table, 


34  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

and  handle  things  as  though  there  was  no 
break  to  them." 

"  Why  should  we  give  the  tow-path  a  wide 
berth?"  inquired  Roy.  "Our  guide-book 
says  that  the  road  from  New  London  to 
Blooming-dale  is  knee-deep  in  sand,  and  ad- 
vises all  wheelmen  going  that  way  to  take  to 
the  tow-path." 

"You'll  find  the  unspeakable  mule  there," 
replied  their  new  friend,  "and  he'll  get  you 
into  trouble  with  the  canalers.  Now,  a  mule 
doesn't  care  any  more  for  a  bike  than  he  does 
for  the  boat  he  is  towing;  but  he  pretends 
that  he  is  very  much  afraid  of  it.  I  have  seen 
them  turn  like  a  flash  and  run  as  if  they  were 
scared  half  to  death  :  but  it  was  all  put  on,  for 
they  were  always  careful  to  stop  before  they 
took  up  all  the  slack  in  the  tow-line,  and  got 
themselves  jerked  off  off  the  path  into  the 
canal.  Of  course  that  makes  the  steersman 
mad,  and  he  tells  you  what  he  thinks  of  you 
and  your  wheel  in  the  first  words  that  come 
into  his  mind.  Besides,  a  fellow  on  a  bike 
offers  so  tempting  a  mark  that  no  canal  boy  I 
ever  saw  can  resist  firing  a  stone  at  him.  If 


THE   STKANGE   WHEELMAN.  35 

he  don' t  throw  at  you,  it  will  be  because  he 
can't  find  anything  before  you  get  out  of 

range." 

f 
'  If  a  fellow  should  try  that  on  me  I'd  run 

him  down  and  give  him  such  a  thrashing  that 
he'd  not  trouble  the  next  wheelman  who  came 
along,''  said  Tom  Bigden,  who  happened  to 
come  up  while  the  conversation  was  in  prog- 
ress. 

"  I  wouldn't  advise  you  to  try  it,"  said  the 
stranger,  with  alight  laugh.  "  In  the  first  place 
you  couldn't  catch  him,  for  as  soon  as  he 
saw  that  you  were  overhauling  him,  he  would 
leave  the  tow-path  and  take  to  the  rocks  ;  and 
while  you  were  following  him,  if  you  were  fool- 
ish enough  to  do  it,  some  of  his  companions 
would  run  up  and  tumble  your  machine  into 
the  canal.  The  easiest  way  is  the  best." 

"  I  suppose  we  shall  find  the  country  people 
all  right  ? "  said  Joe. 

"  W-e-1-1, —  yes  ;  the  majority  of  them  are 
all  right,  but  no\v  and  then  you  will  find  a 
mean  one  even  among  the  farmers,  who  will 
tell  you  that  your  machines  are  a  nuisance  be- 
cause they  scare  the  horses  ;  and  if  you  meet 


36  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

such  a  man  as  that  on  the  road,  he'-ll  take  par- 
ticular pains  to  crowd  you  off  into  the  ditch. 
Take  it  by  and  large,  the  road  is  an  admirable 
school  for  young  fellows  like  you.  You've 
got  to  take  the  bad  with  the  good  in  this  world, 
and  make  up  your  mind's  that  what  can't  be 
cured  must  be  endured." 

"  So  it  seems  that  even  'cycling  has  its  shad- 
owy side,"  said  Roy,  as  he  and  his  friends 
walked  homeward  after  thanking  the  Omaha 
wheelman  for  the  advice  and  information  he 
had  given  them.  "  Tramps  and  conalers  must 
be  avoided,  and  we  mustn't  get  angry  when 
some  crusty  old  fellow  pushes  us  off  the 
road." 

"And  there  are  the  dogs,"  said  Arthur. 
But  he  didn't  say  anything  about  them,  did 
he?" 

"No;  but  other  wheelmen  have,  and  I 
should  think  that  in  some  places  (in  the  South, 
for  instance,  where  every  granger  keeps  half 
a  dozen  or  more  worthless  curs  around  him) 
they  would  be  a  big  source  of  annoyance," 
said  Joe.  "  But  others  have  gone  through  all 
right,  and  we  are  going,  too." 


THE   STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  37 

"  I  wonder  if  Tom  Bigden  and  his  cousin  are 
going  anywhere,"  said  Arthur.  "  If  they  are 
I  hope  they  will  take  some  route  that  will 
lead  them  out  of  our  line  of  travel." 

The  others  hoped  so,  too.  While  they  tried 
to  live  in  peace  with  Tom,  they  did  not  care 
to  have  him  for  a  traveling  companion. 

Joe  and  his  chums  thought  it  best  to  heed 
the  Omaha  man's  friendly  word  of  caution, 
and  if  they  had  ridden  hard  before,  they  rode 
harder  now.  A  ten-mile  spin  in  the  cool  of 
the  evening  was  an  every-day  occurrence.  Of 
course  they  did  not  ride  on  Sunday,  and,  fur- 
thermore, they  did  not  think  much  of  a  fellow 
who  did. 

The  morning  set  for  the  start  dawned  clear 
and  bright,  and  after  an  early  breakfast  Joe 
AVuyring  waved  his  adieu  to  the  family  who 
had  assembled  on  the  porch  to  see  him  off,  and 
wheeled  gaily  out  of  his  father's  grounds  just 
in  time  to  meet  Arthur  Hastings.  Picking  up 
Roy  Sheldon  a  few  minutes  later,  the  three 
set  olf  at  a  lively  pace  over  a  good  road,  their 
long  journey  being  fairly  begun.  The  trunks 
which  contained  most  of  their  luggage  had 


38  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

been  forwarded  to  the  wheelmen's  headquar- 
ters at  New  London,  with  the  request  that 
they  might  be  held  until  called  for  ;  but  several 
handy  little  articles,  which  they  might  need 
at  any  time,  were  made  up  into  neat  bundles 
and  tied  to  their  safely-bars.  Of  course  their 
lamps  and  cyclometers  were  in  their  places, 
and  so  were  their  Buffalo  tool-bags  ;  and  each 
boy  carried  slung  over  his  shoulder  a  bicycle 
gun-case  containing  a  fourteen-inch  pocket 
rifle.  They  were  innocent-looking  little  pop- 
guns, but  "spiteful  things  to  shoot,"  and  one 
of  them  came  very  near  bringing  the  boys 
into  serious  trouble. 

"I  wouldn't  take  a  oTollar  for  my  chance  of 
enjoying  myself  this  trip,"  said  Roy,  as  he 
wheeled  into  line  behind  his  companions. 
"  During  our  two  last  outings  Matt  Coyle  and 
his  interesting  family  made  things  quite  too 
lively  to  suit  me,  but  they'll  not  bother  us  any 
more.  Now  isn't  this  glorious?  I  remember 
of  reading  somewhere  that  if  one  has  a  han- 
kering for  wings,  and  feels  as  if  he  would  like 
to  glide  out  into  space  and  leave  the  world 
with  its  cares  and  troubles  behind,  all  he 


THE   STRAXGE   WHEELMAN.  39 

has  to  do  is  to  buy  a  bicycle,  and  learn  to 
ride  it." 

Roy's  companions  must  have  felt  a  good 
deal  as  he  did,  for  both  of  them  had  something 
to  say  about  the  "joys  that  no  one  but  a 
wheelman  knows,"  but  their  exuberance  of 
spirit  did  not  lead  them  to  commit  the  blunder 
of  riding  hard  at  the  start.  When  they  drew 
up  in  front  of  wheelman's  headquarters  in 
New  London  that  night,  their  cyclometers 
registered  thirty-six  miles  ;  not  a  very  speedy 
run,  to  be  sure,  but  then  they  had  not  set  out 
with  any  intention  of  trying  to  break  the 
record.  In  accordance  with  their  request  the 
hotel  clerk  assigned  them  to  rooms  "as  close 
together  as  he  could  get  them,"  and  after 
seeing  their  wheels  safely  stored,  the  boys 
disappeared  for  a  while  to  remove  all  travel- 
stains  from  their  hands,  faces  and  clothing. 
Then  they  ate  a  hearty  supper,  and  adjourned 
to  the  reading-room  to  decide  where  they 
wo.uld  spend  the  evening.  A  long  time  had 
elapsed  since  they  last  visited  New  London, 
and  they  had  planned  to  remain  in  the  city 
until  they  had  taken  a  look  at  all  the  new 


40  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

things  there  were  to  be  seen.  That  would  take 
three  or  four  days,  they  thought ;  but,  as  it 
hoppened,  some  strange  events  occurred  which 
prolonged  their  stay,  and  threatened  at  one 
time  to  bring  their  trip  to  an  inglorious  close. 

"What's  going  on  to-night,  any  way?" 
said  Arthur,  picking  up  a  paper  and  glancing 
at  the  advertisements  that  appeared  under 
the  heading  "  Amusements  !  "  "  Some  pianist, 
with  an  unpronounceable  name,  assisted  by  a 
celebrated  baritone,  is  to  hold  forth  at  the 
Academy  of  Music." 

"Let's  take  that  in,"  said  Joe;  and  the 
matter  was  settled,  for  all  the  boys  liked  to 
listen  to  good  music. 

Having  plenty  of  time  at  their  disposal  Joe 
and  his  companions  strolled  leisurely  along, 
taking  note  of  all  that  passed  in  their  imme- 
diate vicinity,  and  now  and  then  stopping  to 
look  in  at  a  show-window,  especially  if  it 
chanced  to  be  one  in  which  bicycle  goods  or 
hunting  and  fishing  equipments  were  dis- 
played. That,  I  believe,  is  characteristic  of 
people,  both  old  and  young,  who  are  not  ac- 
customed to  the  sights  of  a  big  city — a  sort  of 


THE   STRAKGE   WHEELMAN".  41 

distinguishing  trait,  so  to  speak.  At  any  rate 
the  interest  that  Joe  and  his  chums  seemed  to 
take  in  the  well-filled  windows  attracted  the 
attention  of  a  spruce  young  fellow,  who  after 
following  them  for  an  entire  block,  and  look- 
ing up  and  down  the  street  as  if  to  make  sure 
that  his  movements  were  unobserved,  stepped 
up  to  the  nearest  of  the  boys  and  tapped  him 
on  the  shoulder. 

"Beg pardon,"  said  he,  smilingly,  as  Arthur 
Hastings  turned  and  faced  him.  "You  young 
gentlemen  are  wheelmen,  I  take  it." 

Arthur  replied  that  the  stranger  had  hit 
center  the  very  first  time  trying. 

"Members  of  the  L.  A.  WJ" 

"  K"o,  but  we  hope  to  be  next  year.  You 
see  we  are  not  quite  eighteen  yet.  Do  you 
ride?" 

"  Certainly.  Owned  a  bike  ever  since  I  was 
knee-high  to  a  duck.  Wouldn't  know  how  to 
exist  without  it.  Going  anywhere  ?  If  you 
are,  perhaps  some  of  us  can  be  of  assistance  to 
you." 

"You're  very  kind,  and  I'm  sure  we  are 
obliged  to  you,"  said  Arthur.  "We've 


42  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

always  found  wheelmen  ready  to  tell  us  any- 
thing we  wanted  to  know." 

"Best  lot  of  fellows  in  the  world,"  replied 
the  stranger,  with  enthusiasm.  "And  the 
best  of  it  is,  you  will  find  them  wherever  you 
you  go.  A  wheel  is  a  passport  to  the  best 
society  in  the  land.  You  don't  live  in  the 
city  ?  I  thought  not.  You  are  from  the 
country." 

"What  makes  you  think  that?"  inquired 
Joe. 

"Didn't  we  get  it  all  off  ?"  exclaimed  Roy, 
turning  first  one  side,  then  the  other,  and  giv- 
ing his  uniform  a  good  looking-over.  "I'm 
sure  I  used  my  brush  the  best  I  knew  how." 

"Yes,  it  is  pretty  dusty,  that's  a  fact,"  said 
the  stranger.  "I  ought  to  know,  for  I  have 
been  on  the  road  myself  to-day.  There's 
nothing  about  you  or  your  uniforms  to  attract 
attention,  but  I  knew  you  were  from  the 
country  the  minute  I  put  my  eyes  on  you, 
because  you  are  so  careless  with  your  money. 
Look  at  that.  If  it  hadn'  t  been  for  me  you 
would  have  lost  it,  beyond  a  doubt." 

So  saying  he  held  out  his  hand  and  exhibited 


THE   STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  43 

a  well-filled  purse ;  whereupon  all  the  boys 
instinctively  thrust  their  hands  into  their 
pockets. 

"If  it  wasn't  so  full  I  should  think  it  was 
mine.  No,  it  does  not  belong  to  me,  although 
it  looks  enough  like  my  purse  to  be  its  twin 
brother,"  said  Joe,  after  he  had  made  sure 
that  his  modest  sum  of  pocket-money  was  safe. 

"It  doesn't  belong  to  me,  either,"  added 
Roy. 

"And  I  am  sure  it  isn't  mine,"  chimed  in 
Arthur.  "  Where  did  you  find  it  ? " 

"  Right  down  there,  close  to  your  feet,"  re- 
plied the  stranger,  indicating  the  exact  spot. 
"It  must  belong  to  one  of  you,  for  I  know  it 
wasn't  there  when  I  stopped  at  this  window 
not  two  minutes  ago  to  look  at  those  bicycle 
stockings.  What  shall  I  do  with  it  ?  I've  got 
to  leave  town  on  the  first  train." 

"Give  it  to  a  policeman,"  suggested  Roy. 
"He'll  take  care  of  it  and  find  the  owner,  too." 

"  Well,  you  are  a  greeny,  that's  a  fact,"  ex- 
claimed the  stranger,  in  tones  that  were  very 
different  from  those  he  had  thus  far  used  in 
addressing  the  boys.  "  Can't  jou  see  that  the 


44  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

purse  is  chuck  full,  and  don' t  you  know  that 
the  owner  will  be  willing  to  give  something 
handsome  to  get  it  back  ?  There'll  be  a  big  re- 
ward offered  for  it  in  to-morrow's  papers, 
and—" 

"  I  don't  know  who  would  be  mean  enough 
to  demand  a  reward  for  restoring  lost  prop- 
erty," said  Roy,  with  a  slight  accent  of  con- 
tempt in  his  voice. 

"  I  fail  to  see  where  the  meanness  comes  in. 
What  is  there  to  hinder  me  from  keeping  the 
whole  of  it?  But  I  was  taught  to  be  honest, 
and  if  I  had  time  to  stop  over  and  take  this 
money  to  the  owner  to-morrow,  I  should  thank- 
fully pocket  the  fifty  or  hundred  dollars  that 
he  would  be  sure  to  give  me,  and  think  none 
the  less  of  myself  for  doing  it.  "Say,"  added 
the  stranger,  sinking  his  voice  to  a  confidential 
whisper,  "I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do  with  you 
fellows,  seeing  you're  wheelmen.  I'll  give  the 
purse  into  your  keeping  for  twenty-five  dollars, 
and  in  the  morning  you  can  claim  the  reward. 
I  haven't  the  least  doubt' that  you  will  make  a 
hundred  dollars  by  it.  Why,  just  look  here," 
he  continued,  lifting  the  catch  and  exposing  to 


THE   STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  45 

view  a  big  roll  of  greenbacks.  ' '  There' s  money, 
I  tell  you,  and  the  reward  you  will  receive  for 
restoring  it  will  pay  all  your  expenses  during 
a  pretty  long  bicycle  tour.  I  wouldn't  think 
of  trusting  every  one  as  I  am  willing  to  trust 
you,  but  seeing  that  you  belong  to  the  frater- 
nity—eh?" 

Roy  and  Arthur  were  plainly  becoming  dis- 
gusted with  their  new  acquaintance.  They 
opened  their  lips  to  utter  an  indignant  refusal 
of  his  generous  offer  ;  but  before  they  could 
say  a  word,  Joe  Wayring  spoke  up. 

"I'll  take  you,"  said  he,  quietly. 

"  All  right,"  said  the  stranger  briskly,  while 
Roy  and  Arthur  were  struck  dumb  with  amaze- 
ment. "You  are  the  most  sensible  man  in 
your  party — meaning  no  offense  to  your  friends, 
of  course." 

"Why.  Joe,"  began  Roy,  as  soon  as  he 
found  his  tongue. 

But  Joe  shook  his  head  and  waved  his  open 
hands  up  and  down  in  the  air,  indicating  by 
this  pantomime  that  his  mind  was  made  up, 
and  it  would  be  of  no  use  for  his  friends  to 
argue  the  matter. 


46  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

"It's  all  right,"  said  lie,  when  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  silencing  them.  "If  there  are  a 
hundred  dollars  to  be  made  honestly,  I  don't 
know  why  we  should  turn  our  backs  upon  it. 
We've  a  long  run  before  us,  our  expenses  will 
be  heavy— 

"That's  the  idea  !  "  exclaimed  the  now  smil- 
ing stranger.  "I  don't  suppose  that  your 
fathers  are  as  liberal  with  you  as  they  might 
be.  I  know  mine  wasn't,  and  that  my  supply 
of  pocket-money  was  mighty  slim  when  I  had 
to  depend  upon  him  for  it.  Where's  the 
cash?" 

"  Hand  over  the  purse,"  replied  Joe. 

"Let  me  see  first  that  you  have  twenty-five 
dollars  to  give  me,"  was  the  answer. 

"I'm  a  wheelman,"  said  Joe,  severely. 
"And  my  machine  is  a  passport  to  the  best 
society  in  the  land — eh  ? " 

"Of  course  ;  of  course.     But  you  see — 

"And  would  I  be  admitted  to  the  best  society 
in  the  land  if  I  were  untruthful  or  dishonest  \  " 
continued  Joe,  while  his  two  friends  wondered 
what  in  the  world  he  meant  by  addressing  the 
stranger  in  his  own  words.  "  Hand  over  what 


THE   STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  47 

you  have  found,  if  you  want  me  to  make  a 
deal  with  you.  We're  from  the  country,  you 
know,  and  consequently  we  are  suspicious  of 
every  stranger  we  meet  in  the  city.  If  you  had 
your  passport — I  mean  your  wheel — with  you 
now,  why  then  I  shouldn't  be  afraid  of  you." 

"  Haven't  I  showed  you  that  I  am  perfectly 
willing  to  trust  you  to  return  this  big  wad  of 
greenbacks  to  the  owner  ?  Of  course  if  I  had 
the  faintest  suspicion  that  you  would  not  give 
it  to  him— 

"  I  was  taught  to  be  honest,  the  same  as  you 
were.  Being  a  wheelman,  I  have  no  more  in- 
tention of  taking  advantage  of  you  in  any  way 
than  you  have  of  taking  advantage  of  me." 

So  saying,  Joe  thrust  his  hand  into  his 
pocket.  Observing  this  movement,  which 
seemed  to  be  indicative  of  a  desire  on  the 
young  wheelman's  part  to  have  the  negotia- 
tions brought  to  a  close,  the  stranger  stepped 
closer  to  him  and  slyly  passed  over  the 
purse. 

"  Be  quick,"  said  he,  in  a  cautious  whisper. 
"Some  one  might  see  us." 

"What  if  they  do? "  replied  Joe,  speaking 


48  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

in  his  usual  tone  of  voice.  "This  is  a  fair, 
square  and  honest  transaction,  as  I  under- 
stand it.  "If  it  isn't—" 

' '  Of  course  ;  of  course  it  is.  But  don' t  pub- 
lish it.  Be  in  a  hurry,  for  a  policeman  might 
happen  along." 

"  Let  him  happen.  We  haven't  done  any- 
thing to  make  us  afraid  of  a  policeman." 

"There  it  is.  Now  hand  out  the  twenty- 
five  dollars." 

As  soon  as  the  fingers  of  Joe  Wayring's 
right  hand  closed  about  the  article  in  ques- 
tion, he  took  the  other  hand  out  of  his 
pocket ;  but  he  brought  it  forth  empty. 

"I  am  very  glad  to  see  that  you  are  not 
afraid  to  trust  a  humble  member  of  the  noble 
fraternity  of  wheelmen,"  said  he,  as  he  lifted 
the  catch  and  opened  the  purse.  "Now,  when 
I  take  this  money  to  its  owner  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  will  pay  the  reward  out  of  what  it 
contains,  won't  he?  Well,  I'll  do  the  same 
by  you,  and  you  may  trust  me  to  tell  him  (I 
am  a  wheelman,  you  know)  that  I  have 
already  paid  twenty-five  dollars  to—  Hallo  1 
Where  are  you  going  ?  A  bargain  is  a  bar- 


THE   STRANGE   WHEELMAN.  49 

gain.     Come  back  and  get  your  money.   Moses 
Taylor !     Where  did  he  go  in  such  haste  ? " 

Joe  might  well  ask  that.  The  place  whereon 
the  strange  wheelman  had  stood  a  second 
before  was  vacant,  and  he  had  disappeared 
from  view. 


CHAPTER  111. 

A   CASE   OF  MISTAKEN   IDENTITY. 

r  I  THE  expression  that  came  upon  Arthur's 
JL  face  and  Roy's  when  the  sleek  and 
plausible  stranger  hurried  away  from  them, 
without  waiting  for  the  money  that  Joe  was 
getting  ready  to  give  him,  was  a  study.  Joe 
gave  them  one  quick  glance,  and  then,  utterly 
heedless  of  the  fact  that  he  was  drawing  the 
amused  attention  of  many  of  the  passing 
crowd,,  placed  his  hands  upon  his  hips  and 
laughed — not  boisterously,  as  he  would  if  he 
had  been  in  the  woods  or  even  in  Mount  Airy, 
but  none  the  less  heartily. 

"  Was — was  it  a  bite  ? "  inquired  Arthur,  as 
soon  as  he  could  speak. 

"I  should  say  it  was,"  replied  Joe,  wiping 
the  tears  from  his  eyes.  "And  you  fellows 
thought  I  was  taken  in  by  it.  Don't  you  read 

the  papers,,  you  two  ?     Why,  that  game  is  old 
50 


A    CASE    OF   MISTAKEN   IDENTITY.  51 

enough  to  be  gray-headed.  No  one  ever  tried 
to  play  it  on  me  before,  but  I  recognized  it  in 
a  minute." 

"  I  confess  that  I  don't  see  where  the  trick 
comes  in,"  said  Roy. 

"Don't  you?  Well,  look  here.  The  reason 
that  fellow  gave  for  turning  the  purse  over  to 
us  was  because  he  couldn't  wait  until  morning 
to  claim  the  reward  that  would  surely  be 
offered  for  its  recovery,  being  obliged  to  leave 
town  by  the  first  train.  Some  folks  would  be- 
lieve that  story.  The  purse  is  fat  enough  to 
excite  the  cupidity  of  a  dishonest  man,  who, 
nine  times  out  of  ten,  will  pay  the  sharper 
out  of  his  own  pocket,  rather  than  open  the 
purse  and  let  him  see  what  there  is  in  it. 
Now,  suppose  I  had  given  that  fellow  twenty- 
five  good  and  lawful  dollars  of  the  Republic  ; 
let's  see  what  I  would  have  received  in  re- 
turn." 

As  Joe  said  this  he  turned  out  the  contents 
of  the  purse,  and  Roy  and  Arthur  discovered, 
to  their  no  small  astonishment,  that  what  they 
had  taken  for  a  greenback  was  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  the  advertisement  of  a  quack  medi- 


62  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

cine,  warranted  to  cure  every  conceivable  form 
of  disease.  It  was  wrapped  around  a  roll  of 
brown  paper,  the  ends  being  turned  over  to 
hide  it  from  view. 

"He  thought  I  would  give  him  the  money 
he  wanted  out  of  my  own  pocket,1'  continued 
Joe.  "But  when  he  found  that  I  was  not 
quite  so  green,  and  that  his  little  game  would 
be  exposed  in  a  minute  more,  and  perhaps 
in  the  presence  of  a  policeman,  he  took  him- 
self off." 

Yes,  that  was  one  reason  why  the  sharper 
left  without  taking  time  to  say  good-by,  but 
there  was  another  that  the  boys  knew  nothing 
about.  I  must  speak  of  it  here  so  that  you 
will  be  able  to  understand  what  happened 
afterward. 

Just  as  Joe  Way  ring  was  about  to  open  the 
purse,  the  sharper  cast  a  furtive  glance  over 
his  shoulder  and  saw  standing  within  a  few 
paces  of  him,  and  intently  watching  his  every 
movement,  a  short,  thick-set  man,  dressed  in  a 
plain  gray  suit.  It  was  evident  that  the  two 
were  not  strangers  to  each  other,  for  when  the 
man  in  gray  scowled  and  jerked  his  thumb 


A   CASE   OF   MISTAKEN    IDENTITY.  £3 

over  his  shoulder,  the  sharper  lost  no  time  in 
getting  out  of  sight.  At  the  same  instant  Roy 
Sheldon  turned  his  face  that  way,  and  the  man 
in  the  gray  suit,  as  if  afraid  of  being  seen  and 
recognized,  promptly  wheeled  about  and  looked 
toward  the  street.  But  he  did  not  lose  sight 
of  the  boys.  He  followed  them  to  the  Acad- 
emy of  Music,  and  sat  within  a  few  feet  of 
them  during  the  whole  of  the  performance. 

"I'll  chuck  these  things  down  there  so  that 
they  can  never  be  used  to  fool  anybody,"  said 
Joe,  when  he  and  his  friends  had  examined 
the  purse  and  its  contents  to  their  satisfaction, 
and  with  the  words  he  tossed  the  unlucky 
sharper's  stock  in  trade  into  an  opening  be- 
tween the  grating  on  which  they  stood  and  the 
bottom  of  the  store  window.  "I  wonder  what 
he  thinks  of  country  wheelmen  by  this  time." 

"  He  was  a  pretty  sleek  talker,  wasn't  he  ?" 
said  Roy.  "  Do  you  suppose  he  rides  ? " 

"  No,"  answered  Arthur,  emphatically.  ' '  He 
is  a  professional  swindler,  and  has  no  time  to 
devote  to  riding.  Besides,  such  chaps  don't 
get  into  the  L.  A.  W.  Well,  we've  made  a 
very  fair  beginning ;  only  twelve  hours  from 


54  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

home,  and  one  adventure  to  our  credit  already. 
I  hope  if  we  have  any  more  they  will  all  turn 
out  as  well  as  this  one  has." 

Having  been  shown  to  their  seats  in  the 
Academy  of  Music,  the  boys  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  business  of  the  hour  and  forgot 
all  about  the  sharper  and  his  disappointment. 
Their  quiet  demeanor  evidently  excited  the 
surprise  of  the  gentleman  in  gray,  and  drew 
from  him  some  remarks  which  were  addressed 
to  one  who  came  in  and  took  a  seat  beside  him 
just  as  the  entertainment  was  about  to  begin. 

"Takes  it  most  too  cool,  don't  he?"  said 
the  man  in  gray.  "You're  quite  sure  that 
there's  no  mistake  about  it?  Bear  in  mind 
that  I  haven' t  seen  him  since  his  last  escapade 
two  years  ago,  and  he  has  had  time  to  change 
a  good  deal  since  then." 

"How  in  the  world  can  there  be  any  mistake 
about  it  ?  "  asked  the  other,  in  reply.  "Don't 
I  see  him  every  day,  and  oughtn't  I  to  know 
him  if  anybody?" 

The  first  speaker  drew  a  photograph  from 
the  inside  pocket  of  his  coat  and  looked  at  it 
intently,  now  and  then  raising  his  eyes  to  com- 


A   CASE  OF   MISTAKEN   IDENTITY.  55 

pare  it  with  the  profile  of  one  of  the  boys  in 
front,  which  was  occasionally  turned  toward 
him.  At  length  he  appeared  to  be  satisfied 
with  his  examination,  for  he  replaced  the  pic- 
ture, at  the  same  time  remarking,  with  some- 
thing like  a  sigh  of  resignation : 

"  It' s  a  go  if  you  insist  upon  it ;  but  I  want 
you  to  understand  very  distinctly  that  if  any 
trouble  follows  the  arrest,  I  am  not  the  one  to 
stand  the  brunt  of  it." 

"  How  is  there  going  to  be  any  trouble  about 
it  ?  Didn't  the  old  man  stand  by  you  before  ? 
He  did,  and  paid  you  well  into  the  bargain. 
He'll  do  the  same  this  time,  and  you  may  de- 
pend upon  it." 

"  But  you  say  he  isn't  at  home  now." 

"  I  know  it ;  but  I  am  simply  obey- 
ing orders,  and  my  word  is  good  till  he 
comes." 

"If  the  boy  has  everything  he  wants,  in- 
cluding all  the  money  he  can  spend,  and  is  as 
kindly  treated  and  as  well  cared  for  as  you 
say  he  is,  I  don't  for  the  life  of  me  see  why  he 
should  run  away  from  home,"  said  the  man  in 
gray.  "Boys  don't  generally  desert  home 


56  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

and  friends  without  a  cause.  At  least  they 
didn't  the  first  time  I  was  on  earth." 

"  Well,  this  foolish  fellow  will  do  it  every 
chance  he  gets,  because  he  is  determined  to  find 
his  father.  His  uncle  always  tried  to  make 
him  believe  that  his  parents  were  both  dead  ; 
but  some  gossip  or  another  had  to  go  and  tell 
him  different,  and  the  old  man  hasn't  seen  a 
days' s  peace  of  mind  since.  He  lives  in  con- 
stant fear  that  the  boy  will  give  him  the  slip. 
This  is  the  second  time  he  has  tried  it,  and 
some  day  he'll  get  off.  Then  there  will  be  a 
time,  I  tell  you." 

"Why  doesn't  his  uncle  tell  him  where  his 
father  is,  and  let  him  go  and  see  him  ? " 

"Oh,  that  would  never  do.  Don't  you 
know  that  the  money  goes  with  the  boy  ?  His 
father  isn't  fit  to  handle  it,  for  he  is  a  worth- 
less scamp  who  would  squander  the  last  dime 
of  it  in  less  than  no  time.  The  law  gave  him 
to  his  uncle,  who  is  also  his  guardian,  and  he 
intends  to  hold  fast  to  him." 

"And  the  money,  too,  I  suppose.  Well,  all 
I  have  to  say  is,  that  if  I  were  in  that  boy's 
place  my  uncle  would  have  to  keep  a  double 


A    CASE   OF   MISTAKEN   IDENTITY.  57 

guard  over  me  night  and  day.  If  I  wanted  to 
see  my  father  I'd  see  him  in  spite  of  every- 
body. Besides,  the  boy  is  pretty  near  old 
enough  to  choose  his  own  guardian." 

"Don't  say  that,"  whispered  the  other, 
hastily.  "Whatever  you  do,  don't  say  that 
where  he  can  hear  it.  That's  a  point  of  law 
that  he  doesn't  know  anything  about,  and 
his  uncle  wouldn't  like  to  have  him  posted." 

"Pooh!  I  shan't  say  anything.  If  I  am 
employed  to  catch  him  as  often  as  he  runs 
away,  so  much  the  better  for  my  pocket-book. 
I  am  too  old  to  quarrel  with  my  bread  and 
butter." 

When  the  entertainment  was  ended  Joe 
Wayring  and  his  chums  left  with  the  others, 
and  close  behind  them  in  the  aisle  came  the 
man  in  gray  and  his  companion.  In  the  hall 
they  encountered  two  dense  living  streams 
that  came  pouring  down  from  the  galleries, 
and  in  the  crush  that  followed  the  boys  be- 
came separated.  Joe  and  Arthur  found  each 
other  again  on  the  sidewalk,  but  nothing  was 
to  be  seen  of  Roy.  As  Arthur  locked  arms 
with  his  friend  to  prevent  a  second  separation, 


68  THE  STEEL   HOUSE. 

they  noticed  a  little  knot  of  curious  people 
gathered  by  the  curbstone,  and  saw  a  close 
carriage  driven  rapidly  away. 

"  Move  on  !  "  exclaimed  a  burly  policeman. 
"  It's  nothing  at  all  except  a  fellow  resisting 
arrest.  Move  on,  please." 

The  two  boys  would  have  been  glad  to  wait 
for  Roy ;  but  as  the  guardian  of  the  night 
emphasized  his  order  by  resting  his  club 
lightly  against  Joe's  back,  they  concluded  that 
they  had  better  move  on.  They  walked  the 
length  of  the  block  and  then  returned,  but  no 
Roy  Sheldon  was  in  sight.  There  were  but 
few  people  coming  out  of  the  hall  now,  but 
there  was  the  watchful  policeman  with  his 
ready  club  and  his  stereotyped  command  : 

"Move  on,  please.  Don't  block  up  the 
walk." 

"  Roy  has  certainly  come  out  before  this 
time,  and  that  blue-coat  has  driven  him  away," 
said  Joe.  "He  knows  the  road  to  the  hotel, 
and  there's  where  we  shall  find  him." 

The  boys  turned  about  and  went  down  the 
street  again,  and  the  first  thing  that  attracted 
their  attention  when  they  entered  their  hotel 


A   CASE  OF  MISTAKEN  IDENTITY.  59 

was  the  familiar  uniform  which  they  had 
adopted  for  their  own — dark  blue  tights, 
white  flannel  shirt  with  blue  trimmings,  and 
white  helmet.  The  boy  who  wore  it  was 
standing  with  his  back  to  them,  examining  the 
register. 

"  I  never  noticed  before  that  Roy  was  so  fine 
a  figure,"  whispered  Arthur.  "Look  at  the 
muscles  on  his  legs.  He  fills  out  those  tights 
as  though  he  had  been  melted  and  poured  into 
them." 

Without*  saying  or  doing  anything  to  attract 
the  boy's  notice,  the  two  friends  slipped  up 
behind  him,  and  Arthur  threw  his  arms  over 
his  shoulders. 

"Now,  you  runaway,  give  an  account  of 
yourself  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

The  effect  produced  by  these  innocent  words 
was  surprising  in  the  extreme.  In  less  than  a 
second  the  supposed  Roy  Sheldon  proved  that 
he  was  quite  as  muscular  as  he  looked  to  be. 
Uttering  a  cry  of  surprise  and  alarm  he  doubled 
himself  up  like  a  jack-knife  and  lunged  for- 
ward with  all  his  strength,  and  then  almost  as 
quickly  jerked  himself  backward.  By  the  first 


60  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

movement  he  came  within  a  hair's  breadth  of 
throwing  Arthur  Hastings  heavily  on  his  head; 
and  by  the  second  he  slipped  out  of  his  grasp 
like  an  eel.  Then  he  straightened  up  and 
faced  him  with  clenched  hands  and  flashing 
eyes. 

"Don't  touch  me!"  he  began,  fiercely. 
"If  you  or  any  of  your  hirelings  lay  an  ugly 
finger  on  me  again— 

When  he  had  said  this  much  he  stopped  and 
looked  hard  at  Arthur  and  then  at  Joe,  while 
an  expression  of  great  astonishment  settled  on 
his  face.  My  master  and  his  friend  were 
equally  amazed.  That  was  Roy  Sheldon's 
uniform,  if  they  ever- saw  it,  but  it- wasn't  Roy 
who  was  in  it,  although  he  looked  almost  ex- 
actly like  him.  There  were  the  same  clear-cut 
features,  hazel  eyes  and  wavy  brown  hair,  and 
the  same  faint  suspicion  of  a  mustache  ;  but 
they  did  not  belong  to  Roy  Sheldon.  A  second 
look  showed  them  that. 

"  Who  are  you  ? "  demanded  the  young  fel- 
low, at  length. 

"  I  think  that  is  a  proper  question  for  us  to 
ask  you,"  replied  Arthur,  who,  having  never 


A   CASE   OF   MISTAKEN   IDENTITY.  61 

before  been  handled  so  easily  by  any  boy  of 
Ms  size,  felt  disposed  to  resent  it.  "What 
are  you  doing  in  our  uniform,  we'd  be  pleased 
to  have  you  tell  us." 

"Your  uniform!"  exclaimed  the  stranger 
eagerly.  "Are  you  from  Jamestown  ? " 

"No.  Never  heard  of  such  a  place  about 
here.  Don't  even  know  where  it  is.  We  are 
from  Mount  Airy." 

"Then  we  are  even,"  said  the  stranger,  in  a 
disappointed  tone,"  for  I  don't  know  where 
Mount  Airy  is." 

"  Then  of  course  you  live  a  good  way  from 
here." 

"Not  so  very  far;  not  more  than  twenty 
miles,  but  it  might  as  well  be  a  thousand  for 
all  I  know  about  this  city.  But  you  are  wheel- 
men, of  course.  Well,  now  I  wish — but  say," 
added  the  speaker,  as  if  something  had  just 
occurred  to  him.  "  Why  did  you  grab  me  and 
call  me  a  runaway  ? ' ' 

"  Because  we  thought  you  were.  I  mean  we 
took  you  for  a  runaway  from  our  party,"  said 
Joe ;  and  then  he  wondered  why  it  was  that 
the  stranger  exhibited  so  much  anxiety  and 


62  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

even  alarm  at  the  words.  "There  is  another 
fellow  in  our  party,  but  we  have  lost  him  in 
some  unaccountable  manner." 

"  Does  he  look  anything  like  me  ?  " 

"He  does,  indeed;  so  very  much  like  you 
that  when  we  saw  you  with  our  uniform  on  we 
took  you  for  our  missing  friend.  You  are  a 
little  stouter  than  he  is.  That's  all  the  differ- 
ence there  is  in  your  figures ;  but  to  look  at 
your  faces  a  little  distance  away,  any  one  not 
well  acquainted  with  you  would  take  you  for 
twin  brothers.  How  did  you  happen  to  choose 
that  uniform  ?  What  club  do  you  belong  to  ?" 

"I  don't  belong  to  any  club.  How  does  it 
come  that  you  happened  to  choose  it  when 
there  wrere  so  many  more  that  you  might  have 
taken?" 

"  We  made  it  up  all  out  of  our  own  heads," 
replied  Arthur. 

"I  can't  say  that  I  did.  I  copied  it.  The 
Jamestown  boys  wear  it,  and  I  have  seen  a 
good  many  bicyclists  running  along  the  road 
past  our  island  dressed  in  the  same  way." 

"  Your  island  !  "  repeated  Joe. 

"Yes;  my  island  prison,  for  that  is  just 


A   CASE   OF  MISTAKEX   IDENTITY.  63 

what  it  is  to  me.  Let's  go  into  the  reading- 
room,"  said  the  stranger,  seeing  that  the  hotel 
clerk  was  becoming  interested  in  their  con- 
versation. "I  don't  care  to  have  everybody 
hear  what  I  say." 

He  moved  away  from  the  desk  as  he  said 
this,  and  Joe  and  Arthur  followed,  lost  in 
wonder.  If  there  wasn't  a  mystery  in  this 
young  fellow's  life  he  was  out  of  his  head. 
That  was  plain  to  both  of  them. 

"  My  real  name  is  Howe  Shelly/'  began  the 
stranger,  taking  possessing  of  a  chair  at  one 
of  the  tables  and  drawing  two  others  alongside 
of  him,  "but  when  I  registered  I  signed  my- 
self Robert  Barton,  and  gave  Baltimore  as  my 
home." 

"  What  made  you  do  that  ?  What  have  you 
been  up  to  ? "  inquired  Joe,  while  Arthur  be- 
gan to  wonder  if  they  had  fallen  in  with  an- 
other sharper  who  would  presently  make  an 
effort  to  cheat  them  out  of  some  money. 

"  I  haven't  done  anything  that  either  of  you 
would  not  do  if  you  were  in  my  place,"  an- 
swered young  Shelly,  if  that  was  really  his 
name.  u  To  make  a  long  story  short,  money  is 


64  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

at  the  bottom  of  all  my  trouble.  My  grand- 
father, when  he  died,  willed  the  most  of  his 
large  property  to  my  father,  who  was  his  only 
child,  on  condition  that  he  quit  the  sea  and 
settled  down  on  shore  with  his  family,  mother 
and  me.  There  was  a  stepson,  \vlio  had  as- 
sumed the  family  name  in  the  hope  of  getting 
some  of  the  money,  but  he  was  left  without  a 
dollar.  Our  home  at  that  time  was  near  some 
southern  seaport  whose  name  I  do  not  remem- 
ber, for  I  was  too  young  to  know  anything. 
This  step-son,  who  had  been  dubbed  "colo- 
nel" on  account  of  his  supposed  wealth,  hap- 
pened to  be  at  home  when  grandfather  died, 
and  what  did  he  do  but  get  possession  of  the 
will,  spread  the  report  that  father  had  been 
lost  at  sea,  take  out  letters  of  administration, 
turn  mother  out  of  the  house,  and  have  himself 
appointed  my  guardian.  I  don't  pretend  to 
know  wThat  trickery  he  resorted  to,  to  bring  all 
this  about,  but  I  kno\v  he  did  it." 

"Humph  !  I  wouldn't  live  with  such  a  vil- 
lain," exclaimed  Joe,  who  was  deeply  inter- 
ested. He  believed  this  strange  story,  and  so 
did  Arthur,  who  told  himself  that  he  must 


A   CASE   OF   MISTAKEN    IDENTITY.  65 

have  been  about  half  crazy  when  he  suspected 
a  boy  who  bore  so  close  a  resemblance  to  Roy 
Sheldon  of  being  a  sharper. 

"I  don't  live  with  him  any  more,"  replied 
Eowe.  "I  have  left  him  for  good;  but  of 
course  I  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  ask  his 
consent." 

"Oh,  that's  what  made  you  jump  and  look 
frightened  when  I  caught  hold  of  you  and 
called  you  a  runaway,  was  it  ? "  said  Arthur. 
"  If  your  guardian  finds  you  can  he  make  you 
go  back  against  your  will  ? ' ' 

' '  Certainly.  He  has  often  given  me  to  un- 
derstand that  he  will  have  full  control  of  my 
actions  as  well  as  of  my  property  until  I  am 
twenty-one  years  old." 

"  Then  he  told  you  what  isn't  so,"  declared 
Joe. 

"I  guess  not,"  answered  Howe  doubtfully. 
"At  any  rate,  when  I  ran  away  from  him  two 
years  ago  he  gobbled  me  with  the  aid  of  a 
policeman  and  took  me  back." 

"  But  you  are  older  now  than  you  were 
then,"  said  Joe.  "  How  old  are  you,  if  it  is  a 
fair  question?" 


66  THE  STEEL   IIOESE. 

"  I  was  eighteen  last  month." 

"Then  snap  your  fingers  at  that  guardian 
of  yours,  and  tell  him  you  are  done  with 
him." 

"That  wouldn't  make  a  particle  of  differ- 
ence to  him,"  replied  Rowe.  "He  would 
have  detectives  after  me,  and  I  don't  know 
but  there  are  some  on  my  track  this  very  min- 
ute. That's  why  I  registered  under  a  ficti- 
tious name,  and  adopted  this  uniform.  It  is 
worn  by  so  many  wheelmen  around  here  that 
it  will  not  be  likely  to  attract  attention.  But 
I  am  going  to  change  it  the  first  thing  in  the 
morning,  trade  off  my  Rudge  safety  for  an- 
other wheel,  and  then  put  for  the  country  and 
stay  there  as  long  as  my  money  lasts." 

"Say,  Joe,"  said  Arthur  suddenly,  "he 
looks  a  good  deal  like  Roy  Sheldon,  doesn't 
he?" 

"  He  is  the  very  picture  of  him,"  answered 
Joe,  surprised. 

"And  you  say,"  added  Arthur,  this  time 
addressing  himself  to  Rowe  Shelly,  "  that 
your  guardian  put  detectives  on  your  track 
when  you  ran  away  from  him  two  years  ago, 


A   CASE   OF   MISTAKEN   IDENTITY.  67 

and  that  he  has  probably  got  them  on  your 
track  to-night?" 

' '  I  don' t  think  I  tised  those  words,  but  that 
was  what  I  meant,"  replied  Howe.  "Why 
do  you  ask  the  question,  and  what  makes 
you  glare  at  me  in  that  fashion?" 

"I  didn't  know  that  I  was  glaring  at  you," 
said  Arthur.  "But  I  wish  from  the  bottom 
of  my  heart  that  you  had  changed  that 
uniform  for  another  a  hundred  years  ago, 
or  else  that  you  had  never  adopted  it, 
for  it  has  been  the  means  of  getting  one 
of  the  best  fellows  that  ever  lived  into 
trouble." 

"Art,"  exclaimed  Joe,  starting  up  in  his 
chair,  "do  you  think — do  you  mean  to 
say — ' ' 

"Doesn't  everything  go  to  show  it?"  ex- 
claimed Arthur,  who  was  very  highly  excited. 
"  His  uniform  is  the  counterpart  of  ours  ;  he 
looks  so  much  Roy  that  a  stranger  couldn't 
tell  one  from  the  other  if  he  were  to  see  them 
together  ;  he  has  the  best  of  reasons  for  believ- 
ing that  his  guardian  has  put  detectives  on 
his  track,  and  who  knows — " 


68  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"Good  gracious  !"  cried  Joe,  starting  up  in 
his  turn  ;  "I  never  once  thought  of  that." 

"  What  are  you  afraid  of  ?  "  inquired  Rowe, 
whose  face  betrayed  the  keenest  anxiety  and 
apprehension.  "  I  hope  you  don't  think  that 
my  resemblance  to  your  friend  has  brought  him 
into  difficulty." 

"  That  is  just  what  we  are  afraid  of,"  replied 
Joe  soothingly,  while  Arthur  Hastings  paced 
the  room  like  a  caged  tiger.  "But,  of  course, 
nobody  can  blame  you  for  it.  If  one  of  the 
detectives  you  spoke  of  saw  him,  he  probably 
mistook  him  for  you,  just  as  Arthur  and  I  mis- 
took you  for  Roy  Sheldon.  It's  a  case  of  mis- 
taken identity,  and  that's  all  that  can  be 
made  of  it." 

"Nonsense!"  exclaimed  Arthur;  "it  is  a 
clear  case  of  abduction." 

"  We'll  have  to  see  a  lawyer  about  that." 

"Then  let's  be  about  it.  What  are  we 
wasting  time  here  for  ? " 

"  Let  us  first  make  sure  that  Roy  has  been 
spirited  away  by  somebody  who  thought  he 
was  Rowe  Shelly.  Say,  Art,  you  remember  the 
carriage  that  was  driven  away  just  as  we  came 


A   CASE  OF  MISTAKEN   IDENTITY.  69 

out  of  the  Academy  of  Music,  don't  you? 
Well  how  do  we  know  but  Roy  was  in  it,  and 
that  he  was  the  fellow  who  resisted  arrest  ?" 

"  That's  so,"  exclaimed  Arthur.  "  Suppose 
we  go  right  back  and  interview  that  policeman 
if  we  can  find  him." 

When  Arthur  proposed  this  plan  Howe  Shel- 
ly's  face  grew  white  again. 

"That  will  be  a  dead  give-away  on  me,  won't 
it?"  said  he. 

"'I  don't  see  why  it  should  be,"  replied  Joe. 
"  We're  not  going  to  tell  any  one  that  we  have 
seen  you.  If  you  are  afraid  of  it,  go  some- 
where while  we  are  gone,  and  then  we  can 
say,  if  we  are  asked  questions  we  don't  care 
to  answer,  that  we  don't  know  where  you  are." 

The  young  stranger  evidently  thought  this 
a  suggestion  worth  heeding,  for  when  Joe  and 
his  companion  left  the  room  he  followed  slowly 
after  them,  first  carefully  reconnoitering  the 
office  to  make  sure  there  was  no  one  there  he 
did  not  want  to  meet. 

"What's  your  opinion  of  that  fellow,  any 
way?"  asked  Joe,  as  he  and  Arthur  hurried 
along  the  street  toward  the  Academy  of  Music. 


70  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"He  tells  a  queer  story,  but  I  really  believe 
there  are  some  grains  of  truth  in  it." 

"  So  do  I,"  answered  Arthur.  "And  if  it 
turns  out  that  Roy  has  been  kidnapped,  1 
shall  believe  it  is  all  true.  I  wish  that  Shelly 
boy  had  been  in  Guinea  before  he  adopted  our 
uniform." 

"Or  else  that  we  had  been  there,"  added 
Joe.  "He's  got  as  much  right  to  it  as  we  have. 
Look  here,  Art.  We  mustn't  let  the  Mount 
Airy  folks  know  anything  about  this." 

"  Not  by  a  long  shot.  They'd  order  us  home 
as  they  did  when  they  read  in  the  papers  that 
Matt  Coyle  had  tied  you  to  a  tree  in  the 
woods.  If  Roy  is  in  a  scrape  we'll  help  him 
out  of  it  and  get  well  on  our  way  beyond 
Bloomingdale  before  we  say  a  word  about  it." 

The  boys  were  not  obliged  to  go  all  the  way 
to  the  hall  in  which  they  had  passed  the  even- 
ing, for  they  met  the  officer  of  whom  they  were 
in  search  at  the  lower  end  of  his  beat.  Arthur 
thought  he  looked  at  them  rather  sharply  as 
they  came  up,  but  he  answered  their  questions 
civilly  enough. 

"Policeman,"   said  Joe,   "will  you   please 


A   CASE   OF   MISTAKEN   IDENTITY.  71 

tell  us  what  sort  of  a  looking  fellow  it  was  who 
was  put  into  a  carriage  in  front  of  the  Academy 
of  Music,  and  driven  away  just  as  the  perfor- 
mance ended  ?  You  were  on  duty  there  at  the 
time." 

"  Aw !  go  on  now !  "  replied  the  officer  good- 
naturedly.  "  He  must  have  been  one  of  your 
own  crowd,  for  he  wore  the  same  kind  of 
clothes." 

"What  was  his  name? "asked  Arthur, 
whose  heart  seemed  to  sink  down  into  his 
boots  when  he  heard  this  answer. 

"Aw,  now  !  "  said  the  officer  again,  "what's 
the  use  of  my  wasting  my  time  with  you  ? 
You  know  more  about  him  than  I  do  ;  but 
I  will  tell  you  one  thing:  you  had  better 
keep  clear  of  him,  or  he  will  bring  you  into 
trouble.  He's  a  bad  nation.  He  stole  a  pile  of 
money  from  his  guardian  before  he  ran  away." 

"  Not  the  boy  who  was  put  into  the  carriage, 
if  it  was  the  one  we  think  it  was,  "  said  Joe 
earnestly.  "  In  the  first  place,  he  has  no  guar- 
dian, and  he  never  stole  a  cent,  for  his  father 
gives  him  all  the  money  he  needs.  There's 
been  a  big  mistake  made  here,  Mr.  Officer." 


72  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"Haw,  haw  !  "  laughed  the  policeman.  He 
turned  on  his  heel  and  started  back  along  his 
beat,  but  he  did  not  shake  off  the  boys.  They 
wanted  to  learn  something  before  they  left  him, 
so  they  kept  close  to  him,  one  on  each  side. 

"But  I  assure  you  there  has  been  the  biggest 
kind  of  a  blunder  made,'"  Joe  insisted.  "  The 
wrong  boy  has  been  arrested.  His  name  is 
Roy  Sheldon,  and  he  left  Mount  Airy  with  us 
this  morning.  Everybody  there  knows  him 
and  us,  too." 

"No,  I  guess  not,"  replied  the  policeman, 
with  another  laugh.  "Bab's  been  in  the  busi- 
ness too  long  to  make  a  mistake  that  might 
get  him  into  trouble." 

"Who's  Bab?" 

"Why,  Bab — Babcock,  the  detective,"  an- 
swered the  officer,  in  a  tone  which  implied  that 
he  had  no  patience  with  a  boy  who  could  ask 
him  so  foolish  a  question.  "The  youngster 
had  the  cheek  to  appeal  to  me  for  protection, 
but  I  told  him  he  had  better  go  along  peaceable 
and  quiet,  for  it  would  only  make  matters 
worse  for  him  if  he  didn't.  I  knew  Bab,  you 
see." 


A   CASE   OF  MISTAKEN  IDENTITY.  73 

"Well,  this  is  a  pretty  state  of  affairs,  I 
must  say,"  exclaimed  Arthur,  his  anger  getting 
the  better  of  his  prudence.  "Of  course  Roy 
resisted,  as  any  other  decent  fellow  would  have 
done  under  the  same  circumstances  ;  and  when 
he  asked  for  protection  from  one  of  whom  he 
had  a  right  to  expect  it,  he  was  told  that  he 
had  better  go  along  if  he  wanted  to  keep  out 
of  worse  trouble." 

"That's  enough  from  you,  young  man,"  said 
the  officer,  shortly.  "  If  you  give  me  any  more 
of  your  insolence  I  Avill  run  you  in  to  keep 
company  with  that  runaway  and  thief.  Move 
on,  now." 

Arthur  didn't  wait  for  a  second  order.  He 
faced  about  at  once  and  started  back  toward 
his  hotel ;  but  Joe  stayed  behind.  He  wanted 
to  ask  another  question  or  two,  although  he 
hardly  expected  that  the  policeman  would  an- 
swer them. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ROWE  SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY. 

"  ~T~UST  one  more  word,  Mr.  Officer,"  con- 

<J  tinned  Joe  Wayring,  when  he  had  seen 
his  discomfited  friend  Arthur  vanish  in  the 
crowd,  "  and  then  I  will  cease  troubling  you." 

"Be  in  a  hurry,  then,"  was  the  gruff  rejoin- 
der. "  Don't  say  anything  to  confirm  the  sus- 
picion I  have  that  you  are  trying  to  make 
game  of  me,  for  if  you  do  you  will  spend  the 
rest  of  the  night  ruder  lock  and  key,  sure 
pop." 

"  I  assure  you  that  my  only  desire  is  to  gain 
some  reliable  information  regarding  my  miss- 
ing friend,"  answered  Joe,  choking  back  his 
wrath.  "  What  precinct  does  this  man  Bab- 
cock  belong  to  ? " 

"  He  doesn't  belong  to  any.  He  is  a  private 
detective,  and  works  wherever  he  is  called." 

11  What  agency  does  he  belong  to  ? " 
74 


EOVVE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  75 

"  Wilcox's  ;  two-tliirty-four  Bank  street." 

"  Thank  you.  That's  one  point  gained.  I 
suppose  he  will  report  the  arrest  at  Ms  own 
headquarters,  will  he  not  ?" 

"Very  likely  he  will,  and  I'll  report  it  to  my 
captain." 

"I  wasn't  aware  that  a  private  detective 
could  make  an  arrest  without  a  warrant,  ex- 
cept in  cases  where  there  is  a  fight  or  some 
other  violation  of  the  public  peace.  I  thought 
he  was  obliged  to  call  upon  a  policeman." 

"  Well,  wasn't  I  here  ?  "  exclaimed  the  offi- 
cer, with  some  indignation  in  his  tones.  "I 
want  you  to  understand  that  I  know  my  busi- 
ness, and  that  you  nor  nobody  like  you  can 
teach  it  to  me.  Move  on.  I've  had  enough 
of  you." 

"All  right,"  replied  Joe  cheerfully.  "But 
first  allow  me  to  apologize  for  troubling  you, 
and  to  thank  you  for  your  courteous  answers 
to  my  questions." 

If  this  was  intended  for  sarcasm  it  had  no 
effect  whatever  upon  the  policeman,  who 
walked  off  with  a  very  dignified  step,  while 
Joe  moved  on  to  find  Arthur  Hastings.  He  dis- 


76  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

covered  Mm  in  the  reading-room  of  the  hotel, 
holding  an  earnest  conversation  with  a  young 
fellow  in  citizen's  clothes.  It  was  Howe  Shel- 
ley ;  but  when  he  left  his  uniform  in  his  room 
he  seemed  to  have  left  with  it  nearly  all  the  re- 
semblance he  had  once  borne  to  Roy  Sheldon. 
Joe  could  see  now  that  the  two  boys  did  not 
look  so  very  much  alike  after  all. 

"I  want  to  assure  you  of  one  thing,  Way- 
ring,"  said  Howe,  as  Joe  seated  himself  in  a 
chair  by  his  side  ;  "what  that  policeman  told 
you  about  my  stealing  a  lot  of  money  before  I 
left  home,  is  utterly  false.  The  little  I  have 
with  me  is  what  I  have  managed  to  save  during 
the  last  two  years  out  of  my  regular  allowance. 
I  have  the  best  of  reasons  for  believing  that 
every  cent  there  is  in  that  house  rightfully  be- 
longs to  me,  but  I  have  never  touched  any  of 
it  except  when  it  was  given  to  me." 

"  Are  there  any  stores  on  the  island  ?  "  in- 
quired Joe. 

Rowe  replied  that  there  were  not.  The  en- 
tire island  was  claimed  by  his  guardian,  who 
said  he  was  Rowe's  uncle,  although  he  was  no 
relation  to  him.  Besides  the  family  mansion, 


KOWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  77 

and  the  barns  and  other  out-buildings  that  be- 
longed to  it,  there  were  four  tenement  houses 
that  were  occupied  by  his  guardian's  hired 
help. 

"  And  I  know  they  are  not  hired  simply  to 
work  the  place  and  keep  the  grounds  in  order," 
said  Howe  bitterly.  "They  are  employed  to 
keep  an  eye  on  me,  although  they  do  not  seem, 
to  pay  any  attention  to  me.  When  I  had  saved 
a  little  money  and  began  laying  my  plans  to 
skip  out,  there  was  not  one  among  them  to 
whom  I  could  go  for  help,  or  whom  I  dared 
take  into  my  confidence.  I  had  to  depend 
upon  myself." 

' '  Then  what  was  the  use  of  a  regular  allow- 
ance of  money  if  you  couldn't  spend  it?" 
inquired  Arthur. 

***  I  could  save  it  for  an  emergency  like  this, 
couldn'  1 1  ?  Besides,  whenever  I  wanted  any- 
thing, I  could  send  for  it  by  some  one  who  was 
coming  to  the  city.  Did  you  learn  anything 
more  about  your  missing  friend?  Hastings 
tells  me  that  there  is  no  doubt  he  was 
mistaken  for  me  and  sent  away  in  that 
carriage." 


78  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"That  is  what  I  think,"  answered  Joe.  "  I 
know  the  name  of  the  detective  who  arrested 
him,  as  well  as  the  agency  to  which  the  detec- 
tive belongs.  It's  Wilcox's,  two-thirty-four 
Bank  street,  and  there's  where  we  must  go  the 
first  thing  in  the  morning." 

"  Great  Scott  !"  cried  Arthur.  "Can't  we 
do  anything  for  Roy  before  morning?  Must 
he  be  put  in  a  cell  and — 

"By  no  means,"  exclaimed  Rowe.  "Your 
friend  will  fare  as  well  at  my  home  as  you  will 
here  at  a  hotel.  Beyond  a  doubt  my  guardian' s 
steam  yacht  was  in  waiting  at  one  of  the  piers 
along  the  river  side,  and  Roy  is  probably  half 
way  to  the  island  by  this  time.  Of  course  the 
detective  will  stay  with  him  till  he  gets  there, 
for  fear  that  Roy  will  jump  overboard  or  do 
some  other  desperate  thing  to  escape  from 
Willis." 

"Who  is  Willis?" 

"He  is  my  guardian's  superintendent  and 
my  jailer.  At  least,  that  is  what  I  call  him, 
although  he  is  very  friendly  to  me,  and  has 
seldom  interfered  with  me.  AA7hen  I  ran  away 
two  years  ago,  he  followed  me  up  and  put  the 


ROWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  79 

detectives  on  my  track.  I'd  got  away  sure,  if 
it  hadn't  been  for  him." 

"  Of  course  if  Babcock  goes  to  the  island  he 
can' t  report  the  arrest  to  his  superior  before 
morning,"  said  Joe,  turning  to  Arthur.  "So 
what's  the  use  in  going  there  (to  the  agency, 
I  mean)  before  we  can  learn  something? " 

' '  I  don' t  see  why  you  should  go  to  the  agency, 
or  give  yourselves  the  least  uneasiness  about 
the  matter,"  said  Rowe.  "As  soon  as  Willis 
has  taken  a  good  look  at  Roy,  he  will  know 
that  the  detectives  has  made  a  mistake,  and 
then  he  will  lose  no  time  in  setting  his  prisoner 
at  liberty  and  sending  him  back  to  the  city." 

"  We'll  call  upon  Mr.  Wilcox  the  first  thing 
in  the  morning,"  said  Joe,  decidedly.  "At 
least  Art  and  I  will,  and  you  had  best  pack 
your  bundle  and  dig  out  before  day-light.  As 
soon  as  your  guardian  finds  out  that— 

"He  isn't  at  home,"  interrupted  Rowe. 
"  He  has  gone  away  somewhere  on  business, 
and  that's  why  I  am  here.  I  took  advantage 
of  his  absence." 

"At  any  rate  the  search  for  you  will  be  re- 
newed when  it  becomes  known  that  a  mistake 


80  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

has  been  made,  and  if  I  were  in  your  place  I 
would  not  stay  here.  I  think  you  were  very 
imprudent  to  come  to  the  city  at  all." 

"That's  because  you  don't  know  what  ex- 
traordinary precautions  I  took  to  make  every- 
body think  I  was  going  the  other  way,"  re- 
plied Howe. 

"But  it  seems  that  the  tricks  to  which  you 
resorted,  whatever  they  were,  did  not  work," 
said  Arthur.  ' '  This  man  Willis,  who  probably 
runs  things  during  your  guardian's  absence, 
must  have  come  to  the  city  or  sent  word  to 
some  one  to  be  on  the  watch  for  you.  If  he 
didn't  do  one  or  the  other,  how  does  it  come 
that  Roy  was  molested  ?  Joe,  what  course  are 
you  going  to  follow  when  you  get  to  the 
agency?" 

"I'm  simply  going  to  tell  the  man  in  charge 
that  one  of  his  detectives  has  made  a  blunder 
and  arrested  Roy  Sheldon  when  he  thought 
he  was  arresting  some  one  else,  and  ask  him  to 
undo  his  night's  work  and  bring  our  friend 
back  to  us  as  quick  as  he  knows  how." 

"  But  he'll  want  evidence,  won't  he  ?  " 

"I  shall  be  provided  with  the  evidence," 


HOWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  81 

replied  Joe  quietly.  "  Howe,  you  wouldn't 
mind  writing  a  couple  of  letters,  one  to  your 
guardian's  superintendent  and  the  other  to  the 
detective,  stating  the  facts,  would  you?" 

"Why — why,  I  don't  see  howl  can  do  it 
without  putting  the  detectives  on  my  own 
track,"  stammered  Howe,  who  was  very  much 
astonished  at  this  proposition.  "I'd  have  to 
sign  my  right  name  to  the  letters,  wouldn't  I  ? " 

"Certainly.  A  fictitious  name  would  be  of 
no  use  to  us,  and  we'll  see  that  you  don't  get 
into  trouble  by  it.  Write  the  letters  contain- 
ing a  full  statement  of  the  case,  make  yourself 
scarce  about  here  without  telling  us  where  you 
are  going,  and  then  we  can't  answer  any  ques- 
tions that  may  be  asked  us.  If  he  don' t  do  it," 
added  Joe  mentally,  "  the  only  thing  I  can  do 
is  to  bring  in  some  of  father's  business  friends 
and  Uncle  Joe's  to  vouch  for  us,  and  add  weight 
to  our  story.  I  am  opposed  to  that,  and  I 
believe  Roy  himself  would  kick  against  it ;  for 
of  course  those  friends  would  write  the  full 
particulars  to  the  folks  at  home,  and  that 
would  knock  our  trip  across  the  State  into  a 
cocked  hat." 

6 


82  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"If  he  doesn't  do  it,"  said  Arthur  to  him- 
self, seeing  that  Rowe  still  hesitated,  "he  will 
find  that  we  are  not  to  be  trifled  with.  I'll 
denounce  him  as  soon  as  I  can  find  anybody  to 
denounce  him  to.  He  got  Roy  into  this  scrape, 
and  it  is  no  more  than  fair  that  he  should  help 
get  him  out." 

"  Is  there  no  other  way  in  which  I  can 
assist  you?"  inquired  Rowe,  after  a  long 
pause. 

"  There  is  none  that  occurs  to  me  just  now,*J 
answered  Joe.  "  Can  you  think  of  any  ?  " 

"I  can't  think  of  anything.  My  mind  ia 
in  a  whirl,  and  has  been  ever  since  I  left  the 
island." 

"I  thought  as  much,"  said  Arthur,  drily. 
"  Otherwise  you  would  never  come  to  the  city 
and  put  up  at  wheelmen's  headquarters.  Don't 
you  know  that  this  is  the  very  hotel  of  all 
others  that  you  ought  to  have  shunned  ? " 

"  I  thought  the  very  boldness  of  the  thing 
would  throw  my  pursuers,  if  I  had  any,  off 
the  track ;  and  I  believe  it  did,  for  I  have 
seen  no  one  to  be  afraid  of  since  I  came  here. 
Do  you  think  the  chief  detective  will  be  ready 


KOWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  83 

to  undo  this  work  when  you  ask  him  ? "  added 
Howe,  addressing  himself  to  Joe. 

"  I  think  he  will.  I  would,  if  I  were  in  his 
place,  for  it  would  hurt  my  business  to  have  it 
get  out.  If  people  knew  that  Wilcox  kept 
such  a  blunderhead  as  that  Babcock  about, 
they  would  not  be  apt  to  give  him  much 
to  do." 

"All  right.  It  shall  be  as  you  say,"  ex- 
claimed Rowe,  getting  upon  his  feet  and 
hastening  into  the  office,  whence  he  presently 
returned  with  a  couple  of  envelopes  and  as 
many  sheets  of  paper  in  his  hand.  ' '  Have  you 
any  influential  friends  in  town  ?  "  he  asked,  as 
he  seated  himself  at  the  table. 

"We've  enough  to  make  it  exceedingly 
uncomfortable  for  those  people  on  the  island 
if  they  don't  turn  that  boy  loose  in  a  little 
less  than  no  time,"  replied  Arthur,  with 
emphasis.  "Tell  your  man  Willis  to  put 
that  in  his  pipe." 

"He'll  not  need  any  such  threat  to  quicken 
his  movements,"  said  Howe,  with  a  smile,  the 
first  one  Joe  had  seen  on  his  face  that  evening. 
"When  he  discovers  that  Babcock  has  not 


84  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

brought  him  the  right  boy,  he  will  be  only  too 
glad  to  get  rid  of  him,     But  I'll  put  it  in." 

After  a  few  minutes  spent  in  rapid  writing 
Howe  handed  Joe  the  following,  which  was 
addressed  to  George  Willis,  Shelly' s  Island, 
New  London  Harbor : 

"  You  have  probably  found  out  by  this  time 
that  the  man  Babcock,  whom  you  notified  to 
be  on  the  lookout  for  me,  has  made  a  mistake 
that  is  likely  to  get  him  and  every  one  con- 
cerned in  it  into  serious  difficulty.  He  has 
made  a  prisoner  of  Roy  Sheldon,  who  lives  in 
Mount  Airy.  He  has  friends  there,  as  well  as 
in  this  city,  who  will  make  it  hot  for  you  if 
you  don't  treat  him  well  while  he  is  on  the 
island,  and  sent  him  back  with  the  least  possi- 
ble delay.  Tell  my  guardian,  when  he  returns, 
that  I  have  grown  weary  of  waiting  for  him  to 
tell  me  where  my  father  and  mother  are,  and 
have  set  out  to  find  them.  I  know  I  shall 
succeed  this  time,  and  then  there  will  be  a 
change  of  administration  on  Shelly' s  Island, 
or  I  shall  miss  my  guess. 

"Now  I  should  like  to  know  what  you  mean 
by  spreading  the  report  that  I  stole  a  lot  of 
money  before  I  went  away.  You  know  it  to 
false.  If  any  of  my  money  has  disappeared 


ROWE  SHELLY,  THE  RUNAWAY.      85 

(it  is  my  money,  mind  you,  and  not  my 
guardian's)  I  would  as  soon  think  you  took  it 
as  to  accuse  anybody  else. 

"If  you  haven't  sent  that  boy  back  already, 
do  it  as  soon  as  you  read  this,  if  you  don't 
want  to  have  some  papers  served  on  you." 

"Is  that  satisfactory?"  inquired  Rowe,  as 
Joe  passed  the  letter  to  Arthur. 

"Perfectly.  If  Willis  fails  to  understand 
it,  it  will  not  be  your  fault.  But  why  don't 
you  get  another  guardian  and  put  it  out  of 
this  man's  power  to  harass  you  with  detectives 
every  time  you  leave  the  island  ? " 

"I  wish  to  goodness  I  could;  but  I  can't. 
The  law  put  him  where  he  is." 

"  And  the  law  can  take  him  out.  When  he 
was  appointed  your  guardian  he  must  have 
perjured  himself  if  he  swore  that  he  was 
your  next  of  kin.  But  here's  a  question  : 
Do  you  know  that  your  parents  are  still 
alive?" 

"No  ;  I  don't  know  it,  but  I  think  so.  I  do 
know,  however,  that  my  father  was  not  lost  at 
sea,  as  my  guardian  reported.  Since  that  time 
people  who  know  him  have  seen  and  talked 


86  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

with  him.  He  was  alive  when  I  tried  to  find 
him  two  years  ago." 

"Where  does  he  live ? " 

"  Somewhere  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  On 
the  coast,  I  suppose,  for  he  is  fond  of  the  water, 
and  has  been  a  sailor  all  his  life." 

"  Now  just  think  a  moment,"  said  Joe, 
earnestly.  "Can't  you  see  that  you  show  a 
wonderful  lack  of  something  in  starting  off  on 
your  wheel  to  hunt  a  needle  in  a  haystack  ? 
You  must  remember  that  Maryland  has  an 
area  of  more  than  eleven  thousand  square  miles, 
not  counting  in  the  bay,  which  has  a  coast  line 
three  hundred  and  eighty  miles  in  length. 
You  have  set  yourself  something  of  a  job,  old 
fellow." 

"So  I  have,"  said  Rowe  nervously.  "Do 
you  know,  I  nover  once  thought  of  that  ?  There 
was  but  one  idea  in  my  mind,  and  that  was  to 
get  safely  off  the  island  and  away  from  New 
London,  so  that  I  could  hide  myself  among 
strangers.  Then,  after  the  excitement  had  had 
time  to  die  away,  and  my  guardian  had  given 
up  looking  for  me,  I  thought  it  would  be  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  run  down  into 


ROWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  87 

Maryland  and  find  my  parents.  It  wouldn't 
be  too  long  a  run,  would  it  ?  I  think  I  have 
heard  of  a  man  who  went  from  San  Francisco 
to  Boston  on  his  wheel." 

"  No  doubt  you  did  ;  and  that  man,  if  you 
are  thinking  of  the  same  one  I  am,  is  now  on 
his  way  around  the  world.  The  run  wouldn't 
trouble  you,  but  finding  the  objects  of  your 
search  would  not  be  so  easy  as  you  seem  to 
think.  You  have  gone  about  it  in  the  wrong 
way." 

"How  would  you  act,  if  you  were  in  my 
place  2 " 

' '  My  first  hard  work  would  be  to  rid  myself 
of  that  guardian,"  exclaimed  Joe. 

"  Haven't  I  told  you  that  he  was  appointed 
by  the  court?" 

"  Of  course  he  was,  or  else  he  could  not  have 
slipped  into  the  position.  But  you  were  too 
young  to  have  any  voice  in  the  matter.  You 
are  older  now  than  you  were  tnen,  and  have 
reached  an  age  when  the  law  says  you  are 
capable  of  choosing  your  own  guardian." 

Howe  became  greatly  excited  when  he  heard 
this.  He  threw  his  pen  upon  the  table,  jumped 


88  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

to  his  feet,  and  paced  the  floor  with  long  and 
rapid  strides. 

"I  hope  you  know  what  you  are  telling 
me,"  said  he,  as  soon  as  he  could  say  any- 
thing. 

Joe  replied  that  he  was  sure  of  his  ground. 

"How  shall  I  go  to  work?"  continued 
Eowe.  "  What  shall  I  do  first  ? " 

"  Go  to  some  honest  lawyer,  tell  him  your 
story  just  as  you  have  told  it  to  us,  going 
rather  more  into  details,  and  he  will  tell  you 
what  to  do.  If  you  give  the  case  into  his 
hands,  he  will  probably  advertise  for  your 
people.  He'll  not  start  off  alone  to  hunt  them 
up,  unless  he  knows  pretty  near  where  they 
are  ;  I  can  tell  you  that  much." 

"And  will  the  law  really  help  me  to  rid 
myself  of  that  man?"  cried  Howe,  as  if  lie 
could  hardly  believe  it.  "And  will  I  have  my 
father  and  mother  to  live  with  me,  and  be 
free  to  come  and  go,  as  other  felloAvs  do  ?  It 
seems  too  good  to  be  true.  Why  didn't  you 
tell  me  this  long  ago  ? " 

"I  have  been  on  the  point  of  telling  you 
a  dozen  times,"  answered  Joe,  "but 


HOWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  89 

somehow  I  always  got  switched  off  on  another 
track.  You  know  it  now,  and  if  you  remain 
shut  up  any  longer  deprived  of  your  rights,  it 
will  be  your  own  fault." 

"I  shall  not  let  the  grass  grow  under  my 
feet,  I  assure  you,"  said  Rowe,  seating  him- 
self at  the  table  and  once  more  taking  up  his 
pen.  "I  shall  not  leave  the  city  until  this 
thing  has  been  settled.  How  would  it  do  to 
add  a  line  to  the  letter  I  have  written  to 
Willis?" 

"Telling  him  what  you  intend  to  do  ?"  ex- 
claimed Joe.  "I  wouldn't.  Spring  it  on  'em 
and  take  them  by  surprise  before  they  have  a 
chance  to  run  away  with  any  of  the  money.  If 
the  man  who  claims  to  be  your  uncle  got  his 
position  by  fraud,  he  wouldn't  be  above  cheat- 
ing you  if  he  saw  an  opportunity  to  do  it 
without  detection." 

It  was  much  harder  work  for  Howe  to  write 
this  letter  than  it  was  to  write  the  first,  be- 
cause he  was  so  nervous  and  excited  that  he 
could  scarcely  hold  his  pen  steady.  But  he 
finished  it  at  last,  and  handed  it  over  to  Joe  to 
read.  It  was  much  the  same  as  the  other,  ex- 


90  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

cept  that  there  was  no  allusion  made  to  the 
story  that  Willis  or  somebody  else  had  spread 
abroad,  that  Rowe  had  appropriated  a  sum  of 
his  guardian's  money  to  help  him  in  his  runa- 
way scheme.  Then  the  letters  were  sealed, 
stamped  and  addressed,  and  Joe  went  out  to 
put  them  into  the  box.  He  wanted  them  to 
reach  their  destination  as  soon  as  possible ; 
and  furthermore,  he  intended  to  allow  the  one 
that  was  addressed  to  the  detective  ample 
time  to  have  an  effect  before  he  called  at  the 
agency  on  the  following  morning,  They  had 
done  all  that  could  be  done  that  night,  and 
when  Joe  went  back  to  the  reading-room  he 
announced  his  intention  of  going  to  bed. 

"Then  I  will  bid  you  good-by,  for  it  is  not 
at  all  likely  that  I  shall  be  here  when  you 
come  down  in  the  morning,"  said  Rowe,  shak- 
ing each  of  them  cordially  by  the  hand.  "  If 
you  only  knew  what  a  terrible  load  you  have 
lifted  from  my  heart  by  the  friendly  encour- 
agement and  advice  you  have  given  me,  you 
would  believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  am  glad  to 
have  met  you,  and  sorry  indeed  that  your 
friend  got  into  trouble  through  me.  Please 


EOWE   SHELLY,    THE  BUN  A  WAY.  91 

say  as  much  to  him  when  yon  see  him,  and 
add  that  I  shall  live  in  hopes  of  some  day 
making  his  acquaintance.  I  suppose  you  can'  fc 
tell  me  where  to  address  you  in  case  I  should 
have  anything  interesting  to  communicate? " 

Joe  was  sorry  to  say  that  he  could  not ;  for 
although  their  proposed  route  had  been  marked 
out  in  their  road-book  before  they  left  home, 
there  was  no  certainty  that  they  would  stick 
to  it.  But  he  and  his  friends  would  like  much 
to  know  how  Howe  succeeded  in  his  efforts  to 
assert  his  rights,  and  a  letter  addressed  to  them 
at  Mount  Airy  would  follow  them  until  it  caught 
them.  There  were  their  cards.  Good-night 
and  good  luck ! 

"He's  a  simple-hearted  fellow  and  totally 
unused  to  the  ways  of  the  world  ;  and  although 
he  hasn't  got  much  sense  to  boast  of  in  some 
things,  he  can  sling  ink  better  than  I  can," 
said  Arthur,  as  he  and  Joe  ascended  to  their 
rooms.  "  Do  you  suppose  he  has  ever  been  to 
school?" 

"No,  I  don't.     He  had  a  private  teacher." 

"Then  why  didn't  he  make  a  confidant  of 
him?" 


92  THE   STEEL   HOKSE. 

"Because  lie  was  afraid  to.  Perhaps  his 
teacher  was  some  poverty-stricken  scholar,  who 
was  told  to  keep  his  mouth,  eyes  and  ears 
closed  as  long  as  he  remained  on  the  island, 
and  was  well  paid  for  doing  it.  More  than 
that,  the  guardian  was  careful  to  tell  his  side 
of  the  story  first,  so  that  the  tutor  would  be 
likely  to  take  anything  Howe  said  to  him  with 
a  grain  or  two  of  allowance." 

"It  does  not  seem  possible  that  such  things 
can  happen  in  this  day  and  age  of  the  world," 
said  Arthur  reflectively.  "  That  fellow  told  us 
a  strange  story,  and  I  shall  do  as  I  please  about 
believing  it  until  we  hear  from  Roy  Sheldon. 
Well,  good-night.  Call  me  when  you  get  up." 

The  first  thing  the  two  friends  did  when  they 
went  down  to  the  office  in  the  morning  was  to 
inquire  for  Robert  Barton  ;  for  you  will  remem- 
ber that  that  was  the  name  the  runaway  signed 
to  the  register. 

"  He  left  a  message  for  you  to  the  effect  that 
he  had  decided  to  take  the  night  boat  for 
Bloomingdale,"  replied  the  clerk.  "He  will 
put  in  the  time  visiting  friends  there  until  you 
arrive." 


ROWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  93 

"  That  means  that  Howe  Shelly  has  gone  into 
hiding  somewhere  in  the  city,"  said  Joe,  as  he 
followed  Arthur  into  the  dining-hall.  "Of 
course  he  wouldn't  be  foolish  enough  to  say 
that  he  was  going  up  the  river  on  a  steamer  if 
he  really  meant  to  do  it." 

"I  don't  know  whether  he  would  or  not," 
answered  Arthur,  doubtfully.  "He  acknowl- 
edges to  doing  a  great  many  foolish  things. 
Putting  up  at  this  hotel  was  one  of  them." 

After  eating  a  very  slender  breakfast  the 
boys  inquired  the  way  to  Bank  street,  and  left 
the  hotel  to  obtain  an  interview  with  Mr.  Wil- 
cox.  About  half  an  hour  later  a  carriage  was 
driven  up  to  the  sidewalk,  and  a  boy  clad  in  a 
bicycle  uniform  got  out  and  hurried  into  the 
hotel ;  but  I  doubt  if  such  a  boy  and  such  a 
uniform  had  ever  been  seen  in  the  Lafayette 
House  before.  He  seemed  anxious  to  escape 
observation,  for  it  was  not  until  he  had  con- 
cealed himself  behind  one  of  the  wide  front 
doors  that  he  stopped  to  pay  his  hackman. 
Then  he  stepped  up  to  the  desk  and  looked  at 
the  astonished  clerk  with  his  right  eye.  He 
wore  a  handkerchief  over  the  other  one,  and 


94  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

there  was  a  suspicion  of  blood  on  the  handker- 
chief. One  sleeve  of  his  shirt  had  disappeared, 
and  so  had  his  cap  ;  and  when  the  clerk  came 
to  take  a  second  look  at  him,  he  saw  that, 
although  his  uniform  was  dry,  it  looked  as 
though  it  had  been  dumped  in  the  harbor — as 
indeed  it  had. 

"Well,  well,"  exclaimed  the  clerk,  as  soon 
as  he  had  in  some  measure  recovered  from  his 
astonishment.  "  What  in  the  world  have  you 
been  doing  to  yourself,  Mr. — ah — er — Barton? " 
he  added,  consulting  the  register  to  make 
sure  of  the  name.  "  Did  the  steamer  sink  or 
burn  up? " 

"What  steamer?  I  don't  know  anything 
about  a  steamer." 

"Why,  didn't  you  tell  the  clerk  whom  I  re- 
lieved that  you  were  going  to  take  the  night 
boat  for  Bloomingdale  ? " 

"Not  much  I  didn't.  I  wasn't  here  last 
night,  and  furthermore,  my  name  isn't  Barton. 
There's  my  name,  Roy  Sheldon  ;  and  I  came 
to  town  yesterday  afternoon  in  company  with 
that  fellow  and  that  one,"  said  the  new-comer, 
pointing  out  Joe's  name  and  Arthur's. 


ROWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  95 

"  Then,  who  was  the  chap  who  left  a  message 
for  Wayring  and  Hastings?"  exclaimed  the 
puzzled  clerk. 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  Did  he  beat  you 
out  of  anything?"  inquired  Roy,  thinking  of 
the  swindler  who  had  tried  to  palm  off  those 
bogus  greenbacks  upon  him  and  his  friends. 

"  Oh,  no  !  He  settled  up  all  fair  and  square, 
and  said  he  would  wait  for  Wayring  and  Hast- 
ings at  Bloomirigdale.  It  couldn't  have  been 
your  brother,  could  it  ?  He  looked  like  you." 

"  Don't  own  any  brother.  Say,"  cried  Roy, 
an  idea  striking  him.  "Wasn't  it  Rowe 
Shelly?" 

The  clerk  backed  away  from  his  desk  and 
looked  at  Roy  without  speaking. 

"  I  don't  know  who  else  it  could  have  been, 
for  I  was  mistaken  for  him,  kidnapped,  and 
carried  over  to  the  island,  and  just  escaped 
being  taken  to  sea  by  the  skin  of  my  teeth," 
continued  Roy,  growing  excited  as  he  thought 
of  it.  "  Rowe  must  have  been  here  and  scraped 
an  acquaintance  with  my  friends,  or  he 
wouldn't  have  left  a  message  for  them.  I  did 
say  I  would  make  trouble  for  somebody  if  I 


96  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

ever  got  ashore,  but  since  I  have  had  time  to 
think  the  matter  over,  I  am  not  as  mad  as  I 
was.  Did  it  blow  much  here  last  night  and 
early  this  morning?  Well,  I  was  out  in  the 
whole  of  it." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  that  fool  Rowe 
Shelly  has  run  away  from  home  again  ? "  said 
the  clerk,  as  if  he  could  hardly  believe  the 
story. 

"He  has  run  away,  but  I  don't  know 
whether  he's  a  fool  or  not.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  he  isn't.  Where  are  those  friends  of 
mine?" 

The  clerk  didn't  know.  They  left  the  hotel 
after  inquiring  the  way  to  Bank  street,  but  he 
couldn't  tell  what  business  they  had  on  hand, 
or  how  long  they  would  be  gone. 

"They'll  show  up  when  they  get  ready," 
said  Roy.  "  In  the  meantime,  if  you  will  give 
me  the  key  to  forty-seven,  I  will  go  up  and  try 
to  make  myself  a  little  more  presentable." 

"  What  have  you  been  doing  to  get  yourself 
into  such  a  plight?"  asked  the  interested 
clerk. 

"The  story  is  too  long  to  be  told  in  detail, 


ROWE   SHELLY,    THE   RUNAWAY.  97 

and  all  I  can  say  just  now  is  that  I  have  had 
a  time  of  it.  But  if  Rowe  got  away  I  don't 
care.  I  would  go  through  as  much  more  to 
help  him,  although  he  is  a  perfect  stranger  to 
me.  Don't  say  anything  about  this,  please, 
for  I  positively  decline  to  be  interviewed.  I 
don't  want  my  folks  to  hear  of  it,  for  fear 
they  will  order  me  home,"  added  Roy  to 
himself.  "That's  the  plain  English  of  the 
matter." 

So  saying  he  took  his  key  and  went  up  to 
his  room. 


CHAPTER  V. 

ROY   IN   TROUBLE. 

~TT~OU  will  remember  that  it  was  during  the 
-I-  crush  which  occurred  at  the  Academy  of 
Music  when  the  "gallery  gods"  came  pouring 
down  into  the  main  hall  from  both  sides,  that 
Roy  Sheldon  became  separated  from  his  friends 
Joe  and  Arthur.  While  he  was  making  his 
way  slowly  toward  the  door,  he  felt  a  hand 
laid  upon  his  arm,  and  without  turning  his 
head  to  see  who  it  was,  supposing,  of  course, 
that  one  of  his  companions  was  close  at  his 
side,  Roy  took  hold  of  the  hand  and  drew  it 
through  his  arm.  When  he  reached  the  side- 
walk he  looked  around  to  say  something  un- 
complimentary regarding  the  rough  fellow  who 
had  elbowed  him  rather  too  sharply  in  his 
haste  to  get  out,  and  then  he  found  that  it  was 
not  a  boy  who  had  hold  of  him,  but  a  man 
whom  he  had  never  seen  before — a  brown-whis- 


ROY   IN  TROUBLE.  99 

kered  man  dressed  in  gray  clothes.  Thinking 
of  the  swindler  whom  he  and  his  friends  had 
encountered  during  the  early  part  of  the  even- 
ing, Roy  made  an  effort  to  twist  himself  out  of 
the  stranger's  grasp,  but  found  that  he  could 
not  do  it.  The  man  had  a  grip  like  a  vise. 

"Softly,  softly,"  said  he,  in  a  low  tone. 
"  The  game's  up,  and  you  might  as  well  give 
in.  You  know  me,  and  you  know,  too,  that  I 
wouldn't  see  you  harmed.  The  carriage  is 
ready  and  waiting." 

"I  don't  know  you,  either,"  said  Roy, 
greatly  astonished.  "Let  go  my  arm,  or  I'll 
black  your  eye  for  you." 

"If  you  strike  me,"  said  the  man,  who 
seemed  rather  surprised  at  this  display  of 
spirit,  "I  shall  have  to  put  the  irons  on  you 
right  here,  and  you  don't  want  to  make  a  scene 
before  all  these  people.  It  wouldn't  look  well 
for  a  young  fellow  of  your  standing." 

Roy,  too  amazed  to  speak  again,  looked 
around  for  his  friends  ;  but  they  seemed  to 
have  disappeared  very  mysteriously.  He  was 
surrounded  by  strange  people,  the  majority  of 
whom  seemed  to  be  paying  no  sort  of  attention 


100  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

to  him,  while  others  looked  on  in  Avouder,  and 
the  rest  laughed  at  him.  An  arrest  in  the 
crowded  streets  of  New  London  was  too  com- 
mon an  occurrence  to  attract  more  than  a  pass- 
ing notice. 

All  this  while  Roy  was  being  led  slowly  but 
surely  toward  a  carriage,  whose  door  was  held 
invitingly  open  by  a  rather  genteel-looking 
man  who  carried  a  heavy  cane  in  his  hand. 
When  Roy  saw  that  preparations  had  been 
made  to  convey  him  away  secretly,  he  recov- 
ered his  power  of  action  and  the  use  of  his 
tongue  at  the  same  instant.  He  resisted  with 
all  his  strength,  and  finally  appealed  to  a 
policeman  who,  for  a  wonder,  chanced  to 
appear  at  that  opportune  moment. 

"What  do  you  mean,  anyway?"  he  ex- 
claimed, giving  his  arm  a  sudden  wrench,  but 
with  no  other  effect  than  to  cause  the  man  in 
gray  to  tighten  his  grasp  until  Roy  could 
scarcely  endure  the  pain.  "  Mr.  Officer,  do 
you  see  what  this  villain  is  doing  ?  I  ask  you 
to  interfere  for  my  protection." 

Roy,  in  his  simplicity,  supposed  that  the 
guardian  of  the  city's  peace  would  rush  up  and 


ROY   IN  TROUBLE.  101 

knock  his  assailant  down  with  his  club,  or  else 
take  him  into  custody  ;  but  he  did  nothing  of 
the  sort.  He  strolled  leisurely  up  to  the  car- 
riage, saying,  in  a  drawling  tone  : 

"  I  suppose  it  is  all  right,  Bab  ?  " 

"  Of  course  it  is,"  replied  the  man  in  gray, 
"  or  I  wouldn't  be  in  it.  I  am  too  old  a  dog  to 
bark  up  the  wrong  tree." 

"It's  all  right,  sonny,"  said  the  policeman, 
soothingly.  "Go  along  quiet  and  peaceable 
and  you  won' t  get  into  trouble  with  Bab.  He'll 
take  good  care  of  you." 

"But  who  is  he,  and  by  what  authority  does 
he  commit  this  outrage  ? "  demanded  Roy,  who 
was  so  angry  and  astonished  that  he  hardly 
knew  what  he  was  saying. 

But  his  indignant  words  met  with  no  verbal 
response.  The  policeman,  who,  according  to 
Roy's  way  of  thinking,  ought  to  have  helped 
him,  lent  effective  assistance  to  his  assailant  by 
taking  the  boy  by  the  other  arm  and  gently 
pushing  him  into  the  carriage.  The  minute 
the  two  men  released  their  hold  of  him,  Roy 
jumped  for  the  other  side  of  the  vehicle,  in- 
tending to  open  the  door  and  take  to  his  heels, 


102  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

but  the  man  who  carried  the  heavy  cane  was 
there  before  him. 

"What's  the  use  of  cutting  up  like  this?" 
said  he,  with  a  cunning  smile  that  exasperated 
the  prisoner  to  the  highest  degree.  "One 
would  think,  from  your  actions,  that  you  were 
going  to  prison,  instead  of  to  the  pleasantest 
home  that  any  boy  of  your  size  ever  had.  Why 
can't  you  stay  there  and  be  contented  ?  There's 
many  a  youngster  in  this  city  who  would  be 
glad  to  be  in  your  boots." 

As  the  man  said  this  he  mounted  to  a  seat 
on  the  box  beside  the  driver,  and  at  the  same 
moment  his  companion,  who  had  got  into  the 
carriage  and  closed  the  door  behind  him,  seized 
Roy  by  the  arm  and  drew  him  away  from  the 
window." 

"  Sit  down  and  take  it  easy,"  said  he,  pleas- 
antly. The  game  is  up,  as  I  told  you,  and  you 
might  as  well  give  in  and  Avait  until  you  see 
another  chance  to  run  away." 

"Run  away!"  repeated  Roy.  "Where 
from?" 

"  Oh,  come  now.  What's  the  use  of  playing 
off  in  that  way?  I  know  it's  quite  a  while 


EOY   IN   TROUBLE.  103 

since  I  saw  you,  but  I  knew  you  the  minute  I 
put  eyes  on  you.  That  chap  didn't  fool  you, 
did  he?" 

"What  chap?" 

"Why,  the  fellow  who  tried  to  play  the 
pocket-book  game  on  you  and  those  two  wheel- 
men you  picked  up  somewhere." 

"Did  you  see  that  operation?"  exclaimed 
Roy,  forgetting  for  the  moment  that  he  was 
being  taken  somewhere  against  his  will,  and 
that  there  might  be  disagreeable  things  in  store 
for  him. 

"  I  saw  it  all.  I  followed  you  from  the  La- 
fayette House — say,  Rowe,  don't  you  think 
you  were  foolish  to  go  to  that  hotel  where  all 
the  wheelmen  stop  ?  That  was  the  very  first 
place  I  went  to  find  you  when  Willis  told  me 
that  you  had  skipped  again.  What  made  you 
go  there?" 

"  Who  is  Willis  ? "  asked  Roy,  in  reply. 

"Oh,  get  out!"  exclaimed  his  companion, 
in  a  tone  of  disgust.  "  If  you  want  me  to  talk 
to  you,  you  must  talk  sense." 

"Well,  then,  where  are  you  going  to  take 
me?" 


104  THE   STEEL   HOESE. 

"  That  isn't  sense,  either,  /might  be  liable 
to  make  a  mistake,  seeing  it's  two  years  and 
better  since  I  last  met  you,  but  Willis  ought 
to  know  you." 

"Who  does  he  think  I  am  ? " 

"Oh,  quit  your  nonsense.  I  am  in  no 
humor  for  foolishness.  I  was  up  all  last  night 
working  on  a  case,  and  now  I've  got  to  stay  up 
till  I  see  you  safe  at  home.  I'm  cross  for  want 
of  rest." 

"  You  don't  talk  as  if  you  were  cross,"  said 
Roy.  "I'll  stop  bothering  you  if  you  will  tell 
me  who  you  are,  who  you  think  lam,  and  why 
you  kidnapped  me  as  you  have  done." 

"  Bless  your  heart,  you  won't  bother  me  if 
you  will  only  talk  sense.  I  didn't  kidnap  you. 
I  arrested  you  for  a  runaway,  and  there's  my 
authority  for  doing  it." 

As  the  man  said  this  he  squared  around  on 
his  seat,  drew  back  the  lappel  of  his  coat,  and 
the  light  of  a  street  lamp,  which  streamed  in 
through  the  window  at  that  moment,  fell  full 
upon  a  detective's  shield. 

"  My  name  is  Babcock,"  he  continued.  "  Of 
course  you  remember  me  now.  Bab,  you 


ROY   IN  TROUBLE.  105 

know  ;  the  same  man  who  arrested  you  when 
you  lit  out  two  years  ago.  Bab,  you  recol- 
lect." 

"Never  heard  your  name  before,  and  never 
saw  you,  till  you  bounced  me  back  there  in  the 
hall,"  said  Roy,  who  told  himself  that  he  was 
learning  something  every  minute." 

"Oh,  come  now,"  replied  the  detective,  in 
an  injured  tone.  "Everybody  knows  Bab." 

"Everybody  except  me,  perhaps.  But  you 
never  arrested  me  for  the  simple  reason  that  I 
never  ran  away  from  home.  It's  much  too 
pleasant  a  place  for  me  to  leave  voluntarily,  I 
can  tell  you.  It  is  plain  enough  to  me  that 
you  have  mistaken  me  for  somebody  else." 

"But  there's  Willis,"  said  the  detective; 
and  if  Roy  could  have  seen  his  face  distinctly 
he  would  have  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  he  had  aroused  a  train  of  disagreeable 
thoughts  in  that  official's  mind. 

"Who's  Willis?"  asked  Roy,  again. 

"  Your  uncle's  superintendent ;  the  man  on 
top  with  the  driver.  He  has  known  you  all 
your  life,  and  he  says  you  are  Rowe  Shelly." 

"Well,  I  am  not.     I  am  Roy  Sheldon,  and 


106  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

my  home  is  in  Mount  Airy.  If  you  don't 
want  to  take  my  word  for  it,  tell  your  hack- 
man  to  drive  us  to  the  Lafayette  House.  You 
will  find  a  couple  of  my  friends  there,  and 
in  an  hour  I  can  bring  a  hundred  more  from 
among  'New  London's  best  businessmen." 

"  If  you  have  so  many  acquaintances  in  the 
city,  why  did  you  put  up  at  a  hotel?  That 
statement  will  hardly  wash." 

"It's  the  truth  whether  it  will  wash  or  not," 
Roy  insisted.  "Having  just  so  much  time  at 
our  disposal,  we  made  all  our  arrangements 
before  we  left  home,  and  we  didn't  want  our 
friends  to  interfere  with  our  plans  in  any  way. 
You  may  save  yourself  trouble  by  going  to  my 
hotel." 

"No;  I  don't  guess  I  would,"  replied  the 
detective,  with  a  yawn.  "I'd  a  little  rather 
trust  Willis  than  you,  for  you  know  that  you 
are  full  of  tricks,  and  that  you  came  within 
one  of  giving  me  the  slip  two  years  ago.  Re- 
member it,  don't  you  2 " 

Roy  replied  that  it  had  slipped  his  mind 
entirely,  and  then  went  back  to  the  point 
from  which  he  started,  hoping  that  by  setting 


HOY   IN  TROUBLE.  107 

out  on  a  new  tack  lie  could  induce  the  detec- 
tive to  tell  him  who  Howe  Shelly  was,  where  he 
lived,  and  why  he  had  run  away  from  home. 

"  If  you  are  an  officer,  as  you  pretend  to  be, 
what  is  the  reason  you  did  not  arrest  that 
fellow  when  he  was  trying  to  play  the  pocket- 
book  game  on  my  friends  and  me  ? "  said  he. 
*'  You  say  you  saw  it  all." 

"And  I  say  so  yet;  but  I  didn't  want  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  him  just  then,  for  I 
had  bigger  game  in  sight.  That  was  you,  and 
I  was  afraid  you  would  recognize  me  if  I 
showed  you  my  face.  So  I  just  nodded  to  the 
swindler  to  let  him  know  that  I  was  on  to  his 
little  performance,  pointed  down  the  street, 
and  he  took  the  hint  and  cleared  out." 

"Oh,  that's  the  reason  he  went  off  in  such 
a  hurry,  was  it?"  exclaimed  Roy.  "We 
thought  it  was  because  he  was  afraid  his  game 
was  about  to  be  exposed.  Now  that  I  think 
of  it,  I  believe  1  did  see  you  standing  near  by, 
but  your  back  was  turned  toward  us." 

"  No  doubt.  And  you  saw  me  when  I  took 
you  in  at  Peach  Grove  two  years  ago,  didn'  t 
you?  Come,  now,  be  honest." 


108  THE   STEEL   IIOKSE. 

"I  don't  know  where  Peach  Grove  is,  and  1 
tell  you  I  never  saw  you  before  to-night," 
replied  Roy.  u  How  far  do  you  intend  to 
take  me  in  this  close  carriage  ? ' ' 

"Not  much  farther.  We're  most  to  the 
pier  now." 

"  Then  I've  got  to  go  the  rest  of  the  way  by 
water,  have  I?"  said  Roy.  "  Why  don't  you 
let  down  the  windows?  It's  suffocating  in 
here." 

"It's  pretty  warm,  that's  a  fact,"  assented 
the  detective,  taking  off  his  hat  and  drawing 
his  handkerchief  across  his  forehead.  "You'd 
holler  if  I  put  the  windows  down." 

"No,  I  wouldn't,"  protested  the  boy. 

"  And  that  wouldn't  be  pleasant ;  because  it 
would  attract  attention,"  continued  the'  de- 
tective. "  You'd  be  sorry  enough  for  it  after 
you'd  had  time  to  cool  off,  and,  besides,  your 
uncle  wouldn't  like  to  have  so  much  publicity 
given  to  this  matter.  He  wants  everything 
done  on  the  quiet,  and  I  promise  you  it  shall 
be,  if  you  will  do  just  as  I  say." 

"Who's  my  uncle?"  asked  Roy,  believing 
that  he  had  got  upon  the  right  track  at  last. 


ROY   IN   TROUBLE.  109 

"  Why,  your  uncle ;  Colonel  Shelly ;  the  man 
who  owns  the  island  where  you  live,"  answered 
the  detective.  And  then,  as  if  he  was  angry 
at  himself  for  giving  his  questioner  this  much 
satisfaction,  he  added  :  "I  declare,  if  Job  was 
here  in  my  place  he'd  lose  patience  and  be 
tempted  to  shake  you.  But  go  on  with  your 
foolishness.  I've  got  to  keep  awake  some- 
how." 

t 

"Then  let  down  the  windows  so  that  a 
fellow  can  breathe,"  said  Roy,  prompt  to  take 
advantage  of  this  permission.  "If  I  speak 
louder  than  my  ordinary  tone  of  voice  it  will 
not  take  you  long  to  put  them  up  again. 
There,  now.  That's  better.  You  say  you  are 
going  to  take  me  to  an  island.  Are  there  any 
people  on  it?" 

"A  dozen,  or  such  a  matter,  I  should  say." 

"Have  they  bean  long  in  Colonel  Shelly' s 
employ  ?" 

"  Some  have  been  there  always,  and  some 
ain't." 

"  That's  all  I  want  to  know  on  that  point," 
said  Roy,  who  was  greatly  relieved.  "Of 
course  the  minute  those  old-timers  see  me 


110  THE  STEEL   HOESE. 

they  will  know  that  you  have  made  a  mis- 
take." 

"Of  course,  they  won't  know  nothing  of  the 
kind,"  replied  the  detective,  angrily.  "They 
know,  and  so  does  everybody  else,  that  Bab 
understands  his  business  and  is  not  in  the 
habit  of  making  mistakes.  Don't  you  build 
any  hopes  on  that." 

"Colonel  Shelly  will  know  that  I  am  not 
his  nephew,  won't  he  ?  I  can  at  least  build 
some  hopes  on  that." 

"  He  ain't  at  home,  and  you  know  it  as  well 
as  I  do.  If  he  was,  you  and  I  wouldn't  be 
here  in  this  carriage.  You  waited  until  he 
went  off  somewhere  on  business,  and  then  you 
skipped." 

"Oh,  that  was  the  way  of  it.  The  colonel 
must  be  rich  if  he  can  afford  to  own  a  whole 
island  so  near  a  big  city  like  New  London, 
mustn't  he?" 

"Aw!  Go  on  now,"  replied  the  detective. 
"He's  awful  rich,  and  so  are  you.  At  least 
you  will  be  one  of  these  days." 

"That's  news  to  me.  I've  seen  the  time 
when  I  thought  I  was  well  off  if  I  had  fifteen 


HOY   IN  TROUBLE.  Ill 

cents  in  my  pocket.  What's  the  matter?" 
inquired  Roy,  seeing  that  his  companion  was 
twisting  uneasily  about  on  his  seat.  "  Don't 
I  talk  fast  enough  to  keep  you  awake  ? " 

"You  make  me  tired,"  answered  the  de- 
tective. "But  I'll  tell  you  one  thing,  young 
man.  If  Willis  has  made  a  mistake  and 
you  are  not  Eowe  Shelly,  you're  a  trifle  the 
coolest  customer  I  have  seen  for  many  a  day." 

"I  don't  deny  that  I  was  frightened  at 
first,"  said  Roy,  "but  I  don't  feel  at  all  un- 
easy now.  Of  course  I  know  that  you  have 
made  a  mistake,  for  there's  nothing  that  you 
or  any  one  else  can  gain  by  running  me  off 
in  this  way." 

"  Well,  look  here,"  said  the  detective  ear- 
nestly. "If  there's  been  a  blunder  made, 
you  mustn't  blame  me  for  it.  Blame  Willis." 

"  What's  the  name  of  the  boy  you  took  me 
for — Rowe  Shelly?  Do  I  look  much  like 
him?" 

"That's  another  question  that  makes  me 
tired,"  answered  Babcock.  "Look  like  him! 
You  are  him,  other  wise  you  wouldn't  be  here." 

"  But  I  say  I  am  Roy  Sheldon  and  nobody 


112  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

else,  as  I  can  prove  if  you  will  give  me  a 
chance.  When  we  get  to  some  place  where  we 
can  borrow  a  light,  I  want  you  to  take  a 
good  look  at  my  face.  You  never  saw  a 
boy  who  looked  exactly  like  me,  and  I'll  bet 
on  it." 

This  was  just  what  the  detective  had  deter- 
mined to  do.  The  boy  was  altogether  too 
much  at  his  ease  to  suit  him  ;  he  did  not  act  at 
all  as  a  disappointed  runaway  ought  to  act, 
and  the  fear  that,  for  once,  he  had  committed 
a  blunder  was  almost  enough  to  drive  Babcock 
frantic.  If  he  had  made  a  prisoner  of  the 
wrong  boy  he  could  look  for  nothing  but  a 
prompt  discharge  from  his  employer,  who 
would  not  be  likely  to  recommend  him  to  any 
other  private  detective  bureau.  But  then  he 
never  would  have  made  the  arrest  if  Willis 
had  not  urged  it,  and  repeatedly  declared 
that  he  knew  Howe  Shelly  when  he  saw  him, 
and  that  there  was  no  chance  for  a  mistake. 
And  besides,  there  was  the  money  that  Rowe 
was  said  to  have  stolen  from  his  guardian! 
To  do  the  detective  justice  he  did  not  believe 
that  part  of  the  story,  but  told  himself  that 


ROY   IN  TROUBLE.  113 

the  superintendent  had  concocted  it  in  order  to 
make  the  case  against  the  runaway  as  bad  as 
it  could  be. 

"  I  don't  much  like  this  private  detective 
business,  and  never  did,"  thought  Babcock. 
"If  there  is  a  mean  piece  of  work  to  be  done, 
something  so  low  down  that  the  city  officers 
won't  touch  it,  we  are  called  upon  to  do  it. 
I'll  have  a  good  look  at  this  boy's  face  as  soon 
as  we  reach  the  pier,  and  if  I  am  not  entirely 
satisfied  with  what  I  see  there,  I'll  wash  my 
hands  of  the  whole  business,  and  leave  Wil- 
lis to  take  him  to  the  island  and  get  out 
of  the  scrape  afterwards  as  well  as  he  can. 
That's  what  I'll  do." 

Seeing  that  his  companion  had  suddenly 
grown  very  unsociable,  Roy  settled  back  on 
his  seat  and  thought  over  the  situation.  What 
would  Joe  and  Arthur  think  when  they  missed 
him,  and  what  would  they  do  about  it? 
When  they  found  that  he  had  not  returned 
to  the  hotel  would  they  become  frightened, 
report  the  matter  at  police  headquarters,  and 
write  to  the  folks  in  Mount  Airy  about  it  ? 
The  bare  thought  of  such  a  thing  alarmed 


114  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

Roy,  who  was  almost  tempted  to  burst  open 
the  door  and  take  to  his  heels. 

"  But  that  plan  wouldn't  work  at  all," 
said  he  to  himself.  "  Babcock  would  have 
me  hard  and  fast  before  I  could  get  fairly 
on  my  feet.  I  must  wait  until  we  reach  the 
pier,  and  then  I'll  make  a  dash,  if  they  give 
me  the  least  show.  If  Joe  and  Arthur  write 
home  about  it,  that  will  be  the  end  of  our 
trip,  and  I'll  pick  a  quarrel  with  the  pair  of 
them  as  soon  as  I  can  find  them." 

But,  after  all,  Roy  did  not  borrow  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  on  this  score.  His  friends 
had  never  yet  "  gone  back  on  him,"  and  Roy 
did  not  believe  they  would  do  it  now,  when 
there  was  so  much  at  stake. 

While  these  thoughts  were  passing  through 
his  mind,  the  carriage,  which  had  been  driven 
at  as  high  a  rate  of  speed  as  the  hackman 
thought  he  could  venture  upon  without  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  the  police,  turned  off 
the  main  thoroughfare  into  a  narrow  street, 
then  into  another,  and  finally  into  a  third, 
which  was  so  dark  and  gloomy  that  the  street 
lamps  looked  as  though  they  were  shining 


ROY   IN  TROUBLE.  115 

through  a  fog.  Presently  it  came  to  a  stand- 
still. 

"  Here  we  are,"  said  Babcock,  with  alacrity. 
"Jump  out.  Not  that  side,  but  this  one. 
Aha  !  You'll  bear  watching,  won't  you  ? " 

But  Roy  could  not  have  made  his  exit 
through  the  door  toward  which  he  turned, 
without  bringing  on  a  useless  struggle  with  his 
captors  ;  for  the  minute  the  carriage  stopped, 
the  man  Willis  clambered  down  from  the  box 
and  appeared  at  the  window. 

"  Howe  Shelly  must  be  a  slippery  fellow," 
thought  Roy,  as  he  faced  about  and  followed 
the  detective,  "and  no  doubt  he  has  given 
these  two  men  a  lesson  that  they  will  not  soon 
forget.  They  won't  let  me  have  the  ghost  of 
a  chance  to  run." 

When  Roy  got  out  of  the  carriage  he  saw 
that  it  had  stopped  at  the  end  of  a  pier  which 
jutted  out  into  the  harbor  for  a  hundred  feet 
or  more.  There  was  no  possible  chance  for 
escape,  unless  he  were  reckless  enough  to  jump 
into  the  water  and  trust  himself  to  the  tide, 
which  was  running  out  at  a  rapid  rate,  but  his 
captors  were  so  very  much  afraid  of  him,  that 


116  THE  STEEL   HOKSE. 

they  kept  fast  hold  of  both  his  arms  while  they 
marched  him  to  the  farther  end  of  the  pier, 
where  they  found  a  natty  little  yacht  with 
steam  up,  ready  for  a  start. 

"Do  you  intend  to  take  me  away  on  this 
thing?"  inquired  Roy.  "Well,  before  you 
do  it,  hadn't  you  better  get  a  lantern  and  sat- 
isfy yourselves  that  you  have  made  no  mistake 
in  the  boy  ?  I  tell  you  I  am  not  Howe  Shelly. 
If  he  has  any  good  reason  for  running  away 
from  his  uncle,  I  hope  he  is  a  thousand  miles 
from  here  at  this  moment,  and  that  you  will 
never  catch  him.  But  if  you  don't  quit  fool- 
ing with  me  here  and  now,  I'll  make  trouble 
for  you  as  sure  as  I  live  to  get  ashore." 

"I'm  used  to  such  talk  as  that,"  said  Willis, 
with  a  laugh.  "  Yes,"  he  added,  in  reply  to  a 
low  question  from  a  man  on  the  forecastle  who 
proved  to  be  the  captain  of  the  yacht,  "  we've 
found  him  already.  Had  no  trouble  at  all  in 
tracking  him.  Are  you  ready  ?  Then  cast  off 
and—" 

"Hold  on,"  interrupted  the  detective.  "I 
want  to  say  a  few  words  to  you  in  private, 
Willis.  Captain,  can  this  boy  be  locked  in  the 


ROY   IN   TROUBLE.  117 

cabin  with  any  certainty  that  we  shall  find  him 
there  when  we  want  him  ?  " 

The  man  appealed  to  said  he  was  sure  of  it ; 
whereupon  Roy  was  conducted  down  the  com- 
panion ladder,  and  into  an  elegantly  furnished 
little  room  in  the  stern  of  the  yacht.  The 
hanging  lamp  gave  out  a  brilliant  light,  and 
Roy,  believing  that  the  detective  would  never 
have  a  better  opportunity  to  take  a  good  look 
at  his  face,  placed  his  hands  on  his  hips  and 
stood  in  such  a  position  that  the  rays  from  the 
reflector  fell  full  upon  him. 

"  JN"o\v  what  do  you  think  ? "  said  he.  "Can 
you  truthfully  say  that  you  ever  saw  me  be- 
fore?" 

"  Why,  what's  the  matter  ? "  inquired  Wil- 
lis, while  Roy  was  sure  he  looked  somewhat 
concerned  and  anxious.  "  What  are  you  talk- 
ing about,  Rowe  \  You  don't  pretend  to  deny 
yourself,  do  you?  If  that's  your  scheme,  it 
won't  work." 

"Of  course  I  do  not  mean  to  deny  my  iden- 
tity," replied  Roy.  "But  I  do  say  I  am  not 
Rowe  Shelly." 

"Wrhat    nonsense!"     exclaimed     Willis. 


118  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"Shove  off,  captain.  We  are  wasting  time 
here.  Mr.  Babcock  will  go  to  the  island  with 
us,  as  he  did  before." 

"Don't  be  in  a  hurry,  captain,"  interposed 
the  detective.  "It  is  possible  that  I  shall 
want  to  stay  ashore.  Now,  Willis,  come  on 
deck  and  tell  me  who  is  to  pay  me  for  this 
night's  work." 

Willis  knew,  and  so  did  Roy  Sheldon,  that 
this  was  simply  a  ruse  on  Babcock' s  part  to 
take  the  superintendent  out  of  the  prisoner's 
hearing  so  that  he  could  speak  his  mind  to  him 
without  fear  of  being  overheard.  I  afterward 
learned  all  about  that  rather  stormy  interview, 
and  so  I  will  tell  of  it  here  in  its  proper  place. 

"Look  here,"  said  Babcock,  as  soon  as  he 
and  Willis  had  gained  the  deck.  "  You  have 
brought  me  into  a  pretty  mess,  and  I  am  going 
to  get  out  of  it  with  the  least  possible  delay. 
I  am  as  near  the  island  as  I  am  going  to- 
night." 

"You — you  don't  suppose—  '  began  Willis. 

"  Yes  ;  I  mean  to  say  that  you  have  made 
me  arrest  the  wrong  boy,"  exclaimed  the  de- 
tective, as  if  he  read  the  thoughts  that  were 


EOT   IN  TROUBLE.  119 

passing  in  his  companion's  mind  ;  "and  if  you 
don't  know  it,  too,  your  face  belies  you. 
What  do  you  say,  captain?  Who  is  that  boy 
we  just  left  in  the  cabin?" 

"Why,  it's  Howe  Shelly,  of  course.  Who 
else  should  it  be?" 

*'  Did  you  take  a  good  look  at  him  ? " 

"I  did.  I  would  know  him  if  I  had  met 
him  in  Europe." 

"  There,  now,"  said  Willis,  angrily,  "  I  hope 
you're  satisfied.  I've  heard  'that  boy  talk. 
He  can  almost  make  one  believe  that  black  is 
white,  and  I  can  see  plain  enough  that  he  tried 
his  blarney  on  you  while  you  were  in  the  car- 
riage with  him.  You  wouldn't  have  made  the 
arrest  if  it  hadn't  been  for  me." 

"  You're  right,  I  wouldn't.  I  believed  you 
when  you  said  you  knew  the  boy.  and  now  I've 
got  into  a  nice  pickle  by  it.  I  hope  the  colo- 
nel will  give  you  your  walking-papers  the 
minute  he  hears  of  it." 

"  Oh,  he  dassent  do  that.  I  know  too  much 
about — "  began  Willis,  and  then  he  stopped, 
frightened  at  what  he  had  said. 

"You  know  too  much  about  him  and  his 


THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

affairs,  do  you  ?  "  exclaimed  Babcock,  finishing 
the  sentence  for  him.  "That's  what  I  have 
thought  for  a  long  time." 

"I  didn't  say  so,"  replied  Willis,  hastily, 
at  the  same  time  taking  the  detective  by  the 
arm  and  leading  him  out  of  earshot  of  the 
captain  of  the  yacht.  "You  ought  not  to 
have  spoken  so  plainly  in  the  presence  of  a 
third  party.  I  tell  you  it's  all  right." 

"And  I  tell  you  I  am  sure  it  isn't.  If  you 
will  take  my  advice,  you  will  bring  that  boy 
out  of  the  cabin  and  show  him  the  way  to  his 
hotel  at  once.  If  he  is  a  stranger  in  town  he 
could  not  find  his  way  there  alone  on  a  dark 
night  like  this." 

"I  wouldn't  do  that  for  no  money,"  said 
Willis,  alarmed  at  the  mere  mention  of  such 
a  thing.  "  Just  see  the  trouble  I'd  get  into." 

"You'll  get  into  more  if  you  don't  do  as  I 
say.  Well,  good-by.  I'm  off." 

"  Won't  you  see  Howe  safe  to  the  island  ?  " 

"Not  by  a  great  sight.  I'll  have  no  more 
to  do  with  the  case." 

So  saying  the  detective  jumped  ashore,  and 
Willis  was  left  to  his  own  discretion. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY. 

^  ~T~YTELL,  this  is  a  pretty  way  to  treat  a 
VY  fellow,  I  do  think,"  soliloquized  the 
puzzled  and  anxious  superintendent,  as  he 
stood  on  the  yacht's  deck  and  watched  the 
retreating  form  of  the  detective  until  it  was 
swallowed  up  in  the  darkness.  ' '  He  gets  me 
into  difficulty  and  then  clears  out,  leaving  me 
to  sink  or  swim,  he  don't  care  which.  What 
do  you  say,  captain?"  he  added,  turning  to 
the  master  of  the  yacht,  who  came  up  when 
he  saw  Babcock  spring  ashore.  "  You're  quite 
positive  that  the  boy  below  is  Rowe  Shelly, 
and  nobody  else?" 

"What's  the  matter  with  you  and  Bab- 
cook  ? "  asked  the  captain,  testily.  "You  act 
like  a  couple  of — I  don't  know  what." 

"  And  that's  the  way  I  feel,"  replied  Willis. 
"Babcock  has  been  worked  upon  in  some  mys- 


122  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

terious  way,  and  now  he's  gone  away  and  left 
me  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  whole  thing 
alone." 

"Well,  wasn't  that  what  you  expected  to 
do  when  you  got  back  to  the  island?"  in- 
quired the  captain.  "His  guardian  being 
absent,  you  will  have  to  take  full  charge  of 
Howe  until  he  returns.  That's  what  you  did 
the  last  time  he  ran  away,  and  you  never  made 
any  fuss  over  it.  I  know  it  is  disagreeable 
business,  this  standing  guard  over  an  uneasy 
fellow  who  won't  stay  where  he  is  put,  but 
seeing  that  we  are  well  paid  for  it,  and  know 
that  it  is  for  the  boy's  best  good,  where' s  the 
harm?" 

"But  Babcock  sfeems  to  think  that  Howe 
has  slipped  through  our  fingers,  and  that  we 
have  brought  back  the  wrong  boy." 

The  captain  made  a  gesture  of  impatience 
but  said  nothing. 

"Air  right,"  exclaimed  Willis.  "Cast  off 
the  fasts  and  get  under  way  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible." 

"Where's  his  wheel?"  inquired  the  captain. 
"  I  didn't  see  you  bring  it  aboard." 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY.  123 

"  We  didn't  stop  for  it,"  answered  Willis, 
"  for  the  youngster  was  in  fighting  humor,  and 
would  have  drawn  a  crowd  about  us  if  we 
hadn't  hustled  him  into  the  carriage  just  as  we 
did.  We'll  have  to  send  for  it  when  he  gets 
ready  to  tell  us  where  he  left  it." 

"Don't  he  feel  inclined  to  talk?  That 
isn't  at  all  like  Rovve,  who  usually  has  gab 
enough." 

"  Bless  you,  he's  nothing  but  talk  ;  but  the 
trouble  is,  he  won' t  tell  the  truth.  He  has  hit 
upon  a  new  plan  this  time.  He  says  he  is  some- 
body else,  and  sticks  to  it.  But  you  know 
him  and  I  know  him,  even  if  Babcock  doesn't ; 
so  it's  all  right.  Now  get  underway.  It  must 
be  all  right,  although  I  confess  that  Babcock 
frightened  me  by  talking  and  acting  as  he  did," 
said  Willis,  as  the  master  of  the  yacht  hast- 
ened forward  to  take  his  place  at  the  wheel. 
"I  had  a  good  view  of  him  while  he  stood  in 
front  of  that  window  with  those  two  young 
wheelmen ;  I  sat  almost  within  reach  of  him 
during  the  entire  evening  ;  and  I've  bad  several 
good  looks  at  him  since.  Babcock  had  all  the 
chances  he  wanted  to  compare  his  face  with 


124  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

the  photograph  I  gave  him,  and  he  didn't  think 
there  was  anything  wrong  until  after  Howe  had 
had  opportunity  to  talk  to  him.  I'd  give 
something  handsome  to  know  what  passed  be- 
tween them  while  I  was  on  the  box  with  the 
driver  ;  then,  perhaps  I  should  know  what  to 
do.  I  ought  to  have  stayed  with  them,  but  I 
never  dreamed  of  anything  like  this.  However, 
I  shall  be  prepared  for  any  emergencies.  I'll 
take  Tony  into  my  confidence  just  as  soon  as  I 
can  get  Howe  into  the  house  and  up  to  his 
room." 

So  saying,  the  superintendent  faced  about 
and  went  into  the  cabin  to  see  what  the  pris- 
oner thought  of  the  situation.  To  his  surprise 
he  found  him  reading  a  paper  he  had  taken 
from  the  table.  According  to  Willis's  way  of 
thinking,  that  was  a  bad  sign.  Why  didn't  he 
walk  the  floor  and  shake  his  fists  in  the  air  and 
utter  threats,  and  in  various  other  ways  act  as 
if  he  had  taken  leave  of  his  senses  ?  That  was 
the  way  he  did  the  last  time  he  was  captured, 
and  Willis  could  not  understand  why  he  didn'  t 
do  so  now. 

"Well,"   said  Roy,  laying  down  his  paper 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY.  125 

and  squaring  around  in  his  chair.  "What 
conclusion  did  you  and  Babcock  come  to  ?  " 

"  What  conclusion  ?  "  repeated  Willis,  inno- 
cently. 

"  Yes.  You  went  on  deck  to  hold  a  private 
confab,  and  I  should  like  to  know  what  came 
of  it.  It  is  a  matter  in  which  I  am  somewhat 
interested." 

"I  don't  see  how  you  can  be.  Bab  wanted 
to  know  who  was  to  pay  him  for  interfering 
with  your  plans,  and  I  told  him  he  would  have 
to  go  to  your  uncle  for  that.  There  was  noth- 
ing private  about  it." 

"  I  suppose  I  am  at  liberty  to  believe  that  or 
not,"  replied  Roy.  "Babcock  knows  that 
when  he  caught  me  he  didn'  t  get  the  boy  he 
wanted,  and  you  know  it,  too.  I  don't  say 
you  knew  it  when  you  took  me  away  from  my 
friends  in  front  of  the  hall,  but  you  do  now  !  " 

Roy  said  this  at  a  venture,  and,  no  doubt, 
would  have  been  greatly  amazed  if  he  had 
known  just  how  close  he  had  shot  to  the  mark. 
He  was  sitting  a  little  to  one  side  of  the  reflec- 
tor, so  that  the  rays  from  the  hanging  lamp 
fell  squarely  upon  him,  and  now  that  Willis 


126  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

liad  leisure  to  look  at  him  without  fear  of  in- 
terruption from  a  crowd  of  curious  by-stand- 
ers,  the  cold  chills  began  creeping  over  him. 
There  was  a  wonderful  resemblance,  it  is  true, 
between  the  prisoner  and  Howe  Shelly,  and 
yet  Willis  could  not  help  seeing  that  they  were 
different  in  a  good  many  particulars.  Roy  had 
a  way  of  holding  his  head,  and  even  of  sitting 
in  his  chair,  which  were  unlike  anything  the 
superintendent  had  ever  noticed  in  Howe. 
How  earnestly  he  wished  that  Roy  would  own 
up,  confess  that  he  was  the  runaway,  and  thus 
put  an  end  to  his  suspense  ! 

"  Where's  Babcock  now  ?"  asked  Roy,  after 
a  short  pause. 

"  On  deck,"  answered  Willis,  who  did  not 
think  it  would  be  good  policy  to  tell  the  pris- 
oner just  what  had  passed  bet  ween  himself  and 
the  detective.  "It always  makes  him  sea-sick 
to  remain  in  a  close  cabin  when  on  the  water, 
and  so  he  stayed  where  he  could  get  the 
breeze." 

"It  works  that  way  with  me,  too,"  said  Roy  ; 
but  Willis  could  not  be  made  to  believe  it. 

"It  won't  do,  Rowe,"  said  he,  with  some- 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROT. 

thing  that  was  intended  for  a  good-natured 
smile.  "I've  seen  you  on  the  water  too  often, 
and  you  can't  crowd  any  such  story  down  me. 
I  wouldn;t  mind  allowing  you  to  go  on  deck  if 
I  could  trust  you ;  but  I  have  learned  that  I 
can't.  Your  word  isn't  good  for  anything." 

"  Your  remarks  may  apply  to  Howe  Shelly, 
but  I  want  you  to  understand  that  they  don't 
hit  me.  My  word  is  always  good.  But  what's 
the  use  of  talking?"  said  Roy,  again,  picking 
up  the  paper.  "I've  told  my  story  to  the  de- 
tective, who  probably  told  it  to  you,  and  in  a 
few  hours  you  will  learn  that  it  is  a  true  one. 
Where  has  Colonel  Shelly  gone,  and  when  is 
he  expected  to  return  I " 

Willis  answered  that  he  didn'  t  know. 

"It's  immaterial,"  said  Roy.  "When  my 
friends  come  to  the  island  after  me.  as  they 
surely  will  as  soon  as  they  find  out  where  I 
have  been  taken,  I  shall  go  ashore  with  them, 
no  matter  whether  the  colonel  is  there  or  not." 

It  was  right  on  the  point  of  Roy's  tongue  to 
add  :  "And  you  will  go  also,  for  I  don't  in- 
tend to  submit  to  treatment  of  this  sort."  But 
he  did  not  utter  the  words.  It  came  into  his 


128  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

mind  like  a  flash,  that  possibly  this  man  Willis 
might  have  it  in  his  power  to  shut  him  up  in 
some  strong  room  on  the  island,  and  if  that 
was  the  case  Roy  did  not  wish  to  make  him 
angry. 

''You  still  stick  to  it  that  you  are  not  Howe 
Shelly,  do  you?"  exclaimed  Willis,  trying  to 
look  and  speak  as  if  he  were  becoming  indig- 
nant, though  the  effort  was  a  sorry  failure. 
He  was  frightened,  and  Roy  saw  it  plain 
enough.  "  You  might  as  well  give  up,  for 
everybody  who  has  ever  seen  you  knows  who 
you  are/' 

"  Oh,  I'll  give  up  because  I  can't  well  help 
myself,"  replied  Roy.  "  In  fact  I  have  a  curi- 
osity to  see  the  thing  out,  and  to  know  what 
you  and  Babcock  will  do  when  you  find  that 
you  have  put  your  feet  in  it.  So  long  as  I  get 
good  treatment,  a  soft  bed  to  sleep  in — I  have 
been  in  the  saddle  nearly  all  day,  and  conse- 
quently I  feel  rather  tired — and  plenty  to  eat, 
I  would  just  as  soon — indeed,  I  would  rather 
stay  on  an  island  to-night  than  sleep  at  my 
hotel.  I  never  did  like  a  city  hotel,  and  if  I 
were  sure  that  my  friends  are  not  worrying 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE   FOR   ROY.  129 

about  me,  my  mind  would  be  quite  at  rest. 
Hal-lo  !  What  have  I  said  now,  I  wonder." 

' '  By  the  piper  that  played  before  Moses,  that 
ain't  Rowe  Shelly,"  said  Willis,  to  himself,  as 
he  sprang  from  his  chair  and  bolted  up  the 
companion-ladder.  "Babcockwas  right,  and 
I'  m  in  for  it,  sure  enough.  Rowe' s  got  sublime 
cheek,  but  it  can't  compare  with  this  fellow's. 
Now  what  shall  I  do  ? " 

It  was  plain  as  daylight  to  me,  when  I  heard 
of  it,  that  there  was  but  one  course  of  action 
open  to  the  superintendent,  and  that  was  the 
honest  and  manly  one.  When  he  became  con- 
vinced, or  even  suspected,  that  he  had  made  a 
blunder,  the  best  thing  he  could  do  was  to 
order  the  yacht  back  to  the  pier  and  conduct 
Roy  Sheldon  to  his  hotel  with  such  apologies 
as  he  could  think  up  on  the  spur  of  the  moment. 
But,  unfortunately,  Willis  had  never  been 
known  to  do  an  honest  and  manly  thing.  Prob- 
ably he  never  thought  of  it.  He  wasn't  above  a 
mean  act,  and  when  detected  in  it  generally  did 
something  meaner  to  cover  it  up.  And  that 
was  what  he  decided  to  do  in  this  case.  He 
did  not  go  into  the  cabin  again,  but  paced  the 

9 


130  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

deck,  lost  in  thought.  He  turned  over  in  his 
mind  a  dozen  wild  schemes  for  ridding  himself 
of  the  prisoner  in  case  he  did  not  prove  to  be 
the  boy  he  wanted,  but  through  it  all  he  clung 
to  the  hope  that  he  was  Rowe  Shelly,  and  no- 
body else.  It  couldn't  be  possible,  he  told 
himself,  that  there  was  a  boy  in  the  world  who 
looked  enough  like  the  runaway  to  deceive 
everybody  at  iirst  sight.  At  any  rate,  it  would 
not  take  long  to  settle  the  matter  now,  for  here 
was  the  island  close  at  hand.  There  were  sev- 
eral people  on  the  jetty  awaiting  the  yacht's 
return,  and  every  one  of  them  would  be  able  to 
tell  at  a  glance  whether  or  not  he  had  brought 
Rowe  Shelly  with  him. 

"I'll  not  so  much  as  drop  a  hint  that  I  am 
afraid  there  is  something  wrong,"  said  Willis, 
to  himself.  "I'll  just  walk  him  ashore  as  if 
it  was  all  right,  and  leave  them  to  find  a  dif- 
ference between  him  and  the  runaway,  if  they 
can.  If  they  don't  say  anything,  I  shall  know 
that  I  have  been  a  fool  for  allowing  Babcock'  s 
words  to  have  so  much  weight  with  me." 

When  the  yacht  whistled  for  the  landing, 
Willis  stuck  his  head  down  the  companion-way 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY.  131 

and  told  Roy  he  might  come  on  deck ;  a  privi- 
lege of  which  the  weary  prisoner  was  prompt 
to  avail  himself.  He  had  been  asleep,  with  his 
head  resting  on  the  table,  and  now  all  he  cared 
for  was  to  get  to  bed.  It  would  be  time 
enough,  he  thought,  to  look  into  his  sur- 
roundings and  inquire  about  Howe  Shelly  and 
his  reasons  for  leaving  home,  after  he  had  had 
a  good  night's  rest.  But  by  the  time  the  yacht 
was  stopped  at  the  jetty  and  the  lines  made 
fast  and  the  gang-plank  shoved  out,  he  was 
wide  awake. 

"He's  come,"  said  somebody  on  the  jetty. 
"Don't  you  see  his  white  shirt  and  cap? 
That' s  him.  That' s  Ro  we. ' ' 

"Now  this  is  mighty  strange,"  said  Roy  to 
himself.  "These  folks  appear  to  be  friendly 
to  the  boy  I  am  supposed  to  be,  and  yet  they 
don't  want  to  have  him  run  away,  although  he 
must  have  good  reasons  for  it,  having  tried  it 
twice.  When  they  get  a  closer  view  of  my 
face  we'll  see  how  quick  they  will  sing  another 
tune." 

But,  to  Roy's  surprise,  they  didn't  do  any- 
thing of  the  sort.  They  crowded  about  him, 


132  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

as  he  walked  down  the  staging  by  the  superin- 
tendent's side  (for  a  wonder  the  man  did  not 
take  hold  of  his  arm,  as  Roy  expected  him  to 
do),  all  eager  to  shake  him  by  the  hand.  They 
even  gazed  into  his  face,  which  was  plainly  vis- 
ible, owing  to  the  bright  light  emitted  by  the 
blazing  torch  that  was  standing  among  the 
rocks  at  the  end  of  the  jetty.  The  climax  was 
reached  when  a  motherly-looking  woman,  who 
was  waiting  for  them  at  the  shore  end  of  the 
jetty,  threw  her  arms  around  the  neck  of  the 
startled  boy  and  kissed  him  on  the  nose  before 
he  knew  what  she  was  going  to  do. 

"  Bless  his  heart,  has  he  come  back  again  ? " 
she  exclaimed,  holding  him  off  at  arm's  length 
so  that  she  could  get  a  good  view  of  him. 
"  Come  right  into  the  house  and  get  a  good 
supper  before  you  go  to  bed.  I  know  you  must 
be  tired  to  death,  and  don' t  suppose  you  have 
had  a  bite  to  eat  since  you  went  away,  seeing 
that  you  did  not  take  any  money  with  you." 

"Let  us  go  in,   Mrs.  Moffat,"  interrupted 
Willis,  who  grew  nervous  when  the    house- 
keeper began  talking  about  money. 
,     "I'll  tell  you  what's  a  fact:  this  is  getting 


ANOTHER  SURPEISE  FOR  ROY.  133 

serious,"  soliloquized  Roy,  as  he  moved  toward 
the  house  in  company  with  Willis  and  Mrs. 
Moffat,  one  walking  on  each  side  of  him.  "But 
I  don't  know  that  I  care  so  very  much.  I'll 
see  how  it  looks  in  the  morning."  Then  aloud 
he  said :  "I  don't  want  anything  to  eat,  Mrs. — 
beg  pardon,  I  didn't  quite  catch  the  name." 

"  Good  laws  !  Just  listen  at  the  child,"  ex- 
claimed the  housekeeper,  throwing  up  her 
hands  and  looking  the  picture  of  astonishment. 

"He's  been  going  on  that  way  ever  since  we 
found  him,  Mrs.  Moffat,"  said  Willis  in  a  low 
tone.  "He  don't  know  me  nor  Babcock  nor 
the  captain  nor  nobody.  He  acts  as  if  he  had 
lost  all  his  senses." 

"  That's  just  what  I  have  been  afraid  of  for 
a  longtime,"  answered  the  housekeeper  in  a 
loud,  shrill  whisper.  "  No  boy  who  was  in  his 
right  mind  would  want  to  run  away  and  leave 
a  kind  uncle  and  a  beautiful  home  like  this. 
I've  suspected  it,  and  so  have  others  whose 
names  I  could  mention." 

Willis  started  when  he  heard  this,  and  so 
did  Roy.  The  woman's  words  suggested  an 
idea  to  both  of  them. 


134  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

"I've  sense  enough  to  know  that  I  am  not 
hungry,"  said  Roy.  "All  I  ask  is  to  get  to 
bed  and  be  left  alone  for  the  rest  of  the  night. 
I'm  tired  and  sleepy ;  and  besides,  I  want  a 
chance  to  think  about  this  business,"  he  added, 
to  himself. 

The  housekeeper  hastened  to  assure  him  that 
it  should  be  just  as  he  said,  and  a  few  minutes 
later  Roy  was  conducted  up  the  front  steps 
and  into  a  wide  hall  from  which  winding  stairs 
led  to  the  floor  above.  Fortunately,  his  guides 
did  not  leave  him  here,  for  if  they  had,  Roy 
would  not  have  known  what  to  do.  No  doubt 
he  would  have  confirmed  the  housekeeper's 
suspicions  by  requesting  her  to  show  him  to 
his  room.  But  she  and  Willis  did  that  with- 
out being  asked.  They  led  him  upstairs  to  a 
handsomely  furnished  apartment,  and  even 
accompanied  him  into  it.  There  was  a  stu- 
dent lamp  on  the  center- table,  a  bright  wood- 
iire  burning  in  the  grate  (although  it  was  sum- 
mer, the  breeze  that  came  off  the  Sound  was 
raw  and  chilly),  and  everything  looked  cheer- 
ful and  inviting. 

''  I  haven't  touched  the  room  since  you  went 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY.  135 

away,  except  to  slick  it  up  a  little,"  said  Mrs. 
Moffatt.  "Now,  is  there  anything  I  can  do 
for  you  before  I  say  good-night  ?  Hadn't  you 
better  let  me  bring  up  a  little  lunch  for  fear 
that  you  may  get  hungry  before  morning  ? " 

' '  I  don' t  care  for  any,  because  I  never  eat 
during  the  night.  When  I  once  fall  asleep,  I 
don't  know  any  thing  more  till  daylight  comes. 
There's  nothing  you  can  do,  thank  you,"  re- 
plied Roy. 

The  motherly  housekeeper  was  evidently  dis- 
appointed because  the  boy  did  not  make  some 
complaints  or  order  something,  for  she  lingered 
as  if  waiting  for  him  to  speak  again,  while 
Willis  walked  the  floor  with  his  hands  behind 
his  back.  He  was  lost  in  a  brown  study  from 
which  he  presently  aroused  himself  to  say : 

"  Very  well.  If  there  is  nothing  we  can  do 
for  you,  we'll  bid  you  good-night  If  you 
want  anything  you  know  how  to  get  it." 

'Til  be  shot  if  I  do,"  said  Roy,  mentally. 
' '  Rowe  Shelly  must  be  a  queer  chap  if  he 
has  to  be  waited  on  during  the  night.  If 
that' s  the  way  he  has  been  brought  up  he  had 
better  stay  at  home  as  long  as  he  can,  for  he'll 


136  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

have  to  take  hard  knocks  when  he  gets  out 
into  the  world.  I  declare,  he  lives  in  clover, 
does  he  not  ? "  added  Roy,  glancing  around  at 
the  expensive  furniture,  the  pictures  on  the 
walls,  the  ornaments  on  the  mantel,  which  in- 
cluded the  model  of  a  full-rigged  ship,  and  the 
well-filled  book-cases  that  stood  on  each  side 
of  the  fire-place.  Through  an  open  door  at 
the  farther  end  of  the  apartment,  Roy  caught 
a  glimpse  of  the  runaway's  bed-room. 

"But  I'll  not  go  in  there,"  said  he,  to  him- 
self. "I'll  move  this  sofa  pillow  to  the  lounge, 
borrow  a  book,  if  I  can  find  one  to  suit  me, 
and  read  myself  to  sleep.  So  long  as  I  am 
treated  like  one  of  the  masters  of  the  house 
instead  of  an  interloper,  I  don't  see  why  I 
shouldn't  make  the  best  of  the  situation.  Of 
course  Joe  and  Art  will  be  along  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  they  will  be  able  to  prove  to  Willis's 
satisfaction  that  I  don't  belong  here.  I  knew 
it  would  be  of  no  use  to  argue  the  matter  with 
Mrs.  Moffatt  after  Willis  told  her  I  was  out  of 
my  head." 

While  Roy  talked  to  himself  in  this  way  he 
ran  his  eye  over  the  volumes  in  one  of  the 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY.  137 

book-cases,  took  out  "Gulliver's  Travels,"  and 
lay  down  upon  the  lounge  ;  but  before  he  had 
read  half  a  page  the  hand  that  held  the  book 
gradually  fell  away  from  his  face  until  the 
volume  rested  on  the  floor  by  his  side.  There 
was  no  sham  about  his  weariness.  His  thirty- 
six  mile  ride  had  tired  every  muscle  in  his 
body,  and  Roy  was  fast  asleep.  Would  his 
slumber  have  been  as  peaceful  as  it  was  if  he 
he  had  known  what  was  going  on  outside  the 
house  ? 

When  Roy  awoke  it  was  with  a  start  and 
the  indescribable  feeling  that  sometimes  comes 
over  a  sleeper  when  a  stranger  unexpectedly 
enters  his  room.  He  looked  around,  and  sure 
enough  he  was  not  alone.  Willis  was  stand- 
ing a  little  distance  away,  and  Roy  was  almost 
certain  that  he  saw  him  turn  and  signal  to 
another  man,  who  whisked  out  of  the  door 
before  he  could  obtain  a  fair  view  of  him.  It 
might  have  been  nothing  but  the  vagary  of  a 
dream,  but  still  Roy  thought  it  worth  while  to 
speak  of  it. 

"  What  do  you  want  now  ? "  he  demanded. 
"Why  do  you  come  in  without  awaking  me, 


138  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

and  who  was  that  fellow  who  just  went 
out?" 

"What  fellow V  asked  Willis,  answering 
the  last  question  first,  and  at  the  same  time 
facing  about  and  looking  at  the  door,  which 
was  still  slowly  and  softly  closing. 

"That's  what  I  asked  you"  replied  Roy, 
springing  off  the  lounge,  jerking  the  door  wide 
open  and  looking  out  into  the  hall.  There 
was  no  one  there.  If  there  had  been  Roy 
certainly  would  have  seen  him,  for  the  lamps 
were  still  burning. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?"  inquired 
Willis,  as  if  he  thought  this  a  very  strange 
proceeding  on  Roy's  part.  "  What  are  you 
afraid  of  I" 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  am  afraid  of  anything ; 
but  I'd  like  to  have  you  to  tell  me  who  came 
into  this  room  with  you,  and  why  you  are  here. 
I  told  you  I  shouldn't  want  anything  to-night." 

"I  thought  you  might,  and  that's  why  I 
came,"  replied  the  man.  "There  is  no  one 
with  me.  I  am  alone."  And  then,  as  if  he 
had  just  thought  of  the  object  of  his  visit,  he 
continued:  "I  was  sure  you  would  like  to 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOE  EOT.  139 

hear  some  word  from  your  friends — the  two 
who  were  with  you  when  that  bunco-steerer 
tried  to  cheat  you  out  of  some  money.  I  know 
I  might  have  waited  until  morning,  and  since 
you  were  sleeping  so  soundly,  I  am  sorry  I 
didn't.  I  have  found  out — " 

•*  Great  Scott,  man  !  "  interrupted  Roy,  who 
could  scarcely  believe  that  he  heard  aright. 
"Don't  talk  about  waiting  till  morning  when 
you  have  good  news  to  tell.  Where  are  my 
friends  ?  Are  they  here  —on  the  island  ?  How 
did  you  get  word  from  them  \  Go  on,  please, 
and  tell  me  what  you  have  found  out." 

If  Willis  had  not  already  received  as  good 
evidence  as  he  wanted  that  the  boy  before  him 
was  not  Rowe  Shelly,  he  had  it  now.  The 
real  runaway  could  not  have  talked  and  acted 
as  Roy  did  at  that  moment. 

"  I  heard  of  them  through  Babcock,"  Willis 
began. 

"  Then  he  didn't  come  to  the  island  with  us, 
did  he  ?  I  wondered  why  I  did  not  see  him." 

"No.  He  left  me  at  the  pier  and  went  to 
the  city  to  make  inquiries  about  you.  He 
went  straight  to  the — the — ' 


140  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"Lafayette  House,"  prompted  Roy,  when 
the  man  hesitated. 

"  That's  the  place.  The  Lafayette  House, 
and  saw  your  name  on  the  register.  Let  me 
see  ;  what  did  he  say  it  was  ? " 

"  Was  it  Roy  Sheldon  ?" 

"Yes,  it  was.  Sounds  a  good  deal  like 
Ro we  Shelly,  don' tit?  He  found  your  name 
there,  and  also  the  names  of— 

Here  Willis  hesitated  again,  for  he  was  not 
quite  sure  of  his  ground.  You  must  remember 
that  he  did  not  know  as  much  about  the  pris- 
oner as  Babcock  did,  for  Roy  had  not  had  the 
same  chance  to  talk  to  him.  So  he  stopped  as 
of  ten  as  he  needed  posting,  and,  strange  to  say, 
Roy  never  suspected  that  there  was  anything 
wrong.  He  afterward  had  occasion  to  take 
himself  to  task  for  his  stupidity. 

' '  My  two  friends,  Joe  Wayring  and  Arthur 
Hastings?"  again  prompted  Roy.  "Did 
Babcock  see  them,  and  what  did  they  have  to 
say  about  my  disappearance  ?  I  hope  they 
haven't  thought  of  writing  home  about  it.  I 
wouldn't  have  them  do  that  for  anything." 

This  was  something  that  Roy  ought  to  have 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE   FOR  ROY.  141 

kept  to  himself ;  but  he  said  it,  and  Willis 
was  quick  to  make  a  note  of  it. 

"I  don't  know  about  that,"  he  replied. 
"Babcock  didn't  see  'em  to  speak  to  'em, 
and  they  didn't  come  off  with  him." 

"Now — why  didn't  they?"  exclaimed  the 
disappointed  Roy,  who  had  secretly  cherished 
the  hope  that  the  fellow  who  so  suddenly  dis- 
appeared through  the  door  was  one  of  his 
chums.  It  would  have  been  just  like  Art 
Hastings  to  play  a  trick  of  that  kind  on 
him. 

"I'll  tell  you  why  he  didn't  speak  to — 
what's  their  names  ?  "  answered  Willis.  "  He 
spoke  to  the  clerk  instead,  because  he  did 
not  want  to  raise  a  row,  and  he  told  him 
all  about  you." 

"The  clerk  did?"  said  Roy.  "Why,  he 
doesn't  know  anything  about  me.  He  never 
saw  me  until. I  went  into  his  hotel  in  company 
with  my  friends." 

"  That's  what  he  told  Bab  ;  but  he  knew  you 
were  from — what  is  the  name  of  that  place 
again  ?" 

"Mount  Airy?" 


142  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

"  That's  it.  He  knew  you  came  from  there, 
and  more  than  that,  he  saw  the  genuine  Howe 
Shelly." 

"There,  now,"  cried  Roy.  "That's  evi- 
dence worth  having.  Did  he  catch  him  \ " 

"No;  but  he  is  close  on  his  trail.  He 
brought  this  news  over  to  me  just  now,  Bab- 
cock  did,  and  then  went  back  to  follow  him 
up." 

"I  hope  he'll  not  catch  him,"  said  Roy. 
"I'm  sure  I  can't  understand  why  a  boy  as 
well  fixed  and  as  kindly  treated  as  young 
Shelly  seems  to  be  should  want  to  run  away 
from  home,  but  I  suppose  he  has  good  reasons 
for  it." 

"  Not  the  first ;  not  the  smallest  shadow  of  a 
reason,"  protested  Willis. 

"Then  he's  crazy;  that's  flat." 

"Now  you  have  hit  it.  That's  what's  the 
matter  with  him,  and  you  heard  Mrs.  Moffatt 
say  she  had  suspected  it  for  a  long  time.  You 
look  surprisingly  like  Rowe,  or  else  all  those 
folks  who  met  us  on  the  jetty  wouldn't  have 
taken  you  for  him.  You've  got  the  same  hair, 
eyes,  and  mustache,  and  your  clothes  are  ex- 


ANOTHER  SURPRISE  FOR  ROY.  143 

actly  like  his-;  but  when  I  had  a  chance  to 
exchange  a  word  with  you,  I  knew  that  Bab 
had  made  a  big  mistake." 

"Bab  says  you  are  the  one  who  made  the 
mistake,  and  that  if  I  blame  anybody  for  what 
has  happened  to  me  to-night,  I  must  blame 
you." 

"  Well,  you  wouldn't  blame  anybody  if  you 
could  see  Ro we  Shelly,"  said  Willis,  deprecat- 
ingly.  "  Of  course  any  amends  that — " 

''Oh,  I  don't  ask  any  amends,"  interposed 
Roy.  "I've  had  an  agreeable  adventure,  and 
I  shall  not  make  any  trouble  on  account  of  it. 
All  I  ask  is  that  you  will  send  me  to  the  city 
at  once,  so  that  I  may  relieve  the  anxiety  of 
my  friends.  Now,  what  do  you  want  me  to  do  ? 
Are  you  going  to  send  me  off  in  the  yacht  ? " 

"I'd  like  to,  but  I  can't,"  answered  Willis. 
"The  captain's  asleep,  and  steam' has  gone 
down,  so  that  it  would  take  an  hour  to  get 
ready  for  the  start.  I'll  have  to  send  you 
ashore  in  a  boat,  if  you  don' t  mind  going  that 
way." 

"Any  way  to  get  there,"  said  Roy,  picking 
up  his  cap.  "I'm  ready  if  you  are." 


144  THE  STEEL  HOUSE. 

"Willis  left  the  room  at  once,  and  Roy  fol- 
lowed him  downstairs  and  out  of  the  house. 
Did  the  man  move  with  cautious  footsteps  as 
if  he  were  afraid  of  disturbing  somebody  ?  Roy 
was  sure  he  did,  and  thought  it  looked  sus- 
picious. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SOME   STARTLING   NEWS. 

T  DON'T  much  like  the  idea  of  sneaking 
-L  out  as  if  I  were  a  thief,"  said  Roy,  in- 
voluntarily following  the  guide's  motions  and 
speaking  in  a  low  and  guarded  tone.  ' '  What's 
the  object  of  so  much  secrecy  ?  I  know  I  have 
no  right  here,  but  since  I  was  brought  against 
my  will,  I  have  a  perfect  right  to  go  out  open 
and  above  board." 

"Easy,  easy,"  whispered  Willis,  raising  his 
hand  with  a  warning  gesture.  "We  don't 
want  to  disturb  Mrs.  Moffatt  for  nothing. 
The  timid  old  soul  lives  in  constant  fear  of  a 
visit  from  New  London  burglars,  and  if  we 
should  wake  her  up  she  would  be  scared  to 
death." 

Roy  did  not  think  to  ask  himself  whether 
or  not  this  was  a  good  reason  for  Willis's 
stealthy  movements,  for  his  mind  was  too  busy 

10  145 


146  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

with  other  matters.  He  wanted  to  see  the 
boat  that  was  to  take  him  across  to  the  city, 
and  fervently  hoped  it  might  prove  to  be  a 
large  and  seaworthy  one  ;  for  when  he  got  out 
of  the  house  he  saw  that  the  sky  was  overcast, 
that  the  wind  was  rising,  and  that  the  surface 
of  the  bay  looked  dark  and  threatening. 

"Isn't  it  going  to  be  an  ugly  night ?"  said 
he,  as  he  accompanied  his  guide  down  one  of 
the  broad  carriageways  that  had  been  laid  out 
along  the  beach.  "  What  a  lovely  road  for  a 
wheel,"  he  went  on,  without  giving  Willis  a 
chance  to  reply.  "It  is  as  hard  as  rock  and 
level  as  a  floor." 

"Yes  ;.  here's  where  Howe  learned  to  ride," 
said  Willis.  "  We  have  twenty  miles  of  just 
such  roads  on  the  island." 

"  Then  that  was  what  you  meant  when  you 
said  Howe's  clothes  were  just  like  mine  ;  he  is 
a  wheelman,"  said  Roy.  "He  has  a  nice  place 
for  his  regular  runs,  and  I  should  much  like  to 
see  it  by  daylight ;  but  I  should  think  he 
would  get  lonely  and  long  to  take  a  spin  on  the 
mainland  now  and  then.  I  tell  you  it's  going 
to  blow,"  he  added,  as  a  strong  gust  of  wind 


SOME   STARTLING   NEWS.  147 

shook  the  branches  of  the  trees  that  shaded 
the  road  on  both  sides.  "Are  you  going  to 
the  city  with  me  ? " 

"I  can't  leave  the  island  until  I  put  the 
hands  to  work  in  the  morning,"  replied  Willis. 
"But  I  will  give  you  a  good  crew  and  a 
stanch  boat.  You' 11  go  over  all  right.  You 
are  not  afraid  of  a  capful  of  wind,  I  hope  ? " 

"  No,  but  I  am  afraid  of  a  gale.  I  am  used 
to  smooth  water,  and  don't  at  all  relish  the  idea 
of  being  out  in  a  storm." 

"Oil,  it  isn't  going  to  storm.  But  if  you 
get  frightened  after  you  are  out  a  little  way, 
tell  the  men  to  bring  you  back  or  to  put 
you  aboard  some  coaster,  bound  in.  Here 
we  are." 

As  Willis  said  this  he  turned  off  the  road 
and  led  the  way  down  the  bank  and  to  the 
beach,  where  Roy  found  a  boat  and  two  men 
who  were  evidently  waiting  for  him. 

"  Here  he  is."  said  Willis,  laying  his  hand 
on  the  boy's  shoulder.  "He  doesn't  much 
like  the  idea  of  going  out  in  this  breeze— 

"The  breeze  don't  blow  to  hurt  anything," 
growled  one  of  the  men,  pulling  his  sou'  wester 


148  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

lower  over  his  forehead  and  turning  the  collar 
of  his  pea-jacket  up  around  his  ears. 

"That's  what  I  told  him  ;  but  of  course  his 
wishes  must  be  respected,  and  I  want  you  to 
mind  this :  If  it  gets  too  heavy  for  you,  you 
will  either  bring  him  back,  or  put  him  aboard 
some  larger  craft,  bound  in.  If  you  will  step 
this  way  a  minute,-  Tony,  I  will  give  you  an 
order  for  some  goods  I  want  brought  from  the 
city." 

The  superintendent  drew  off  on  one  side  out 
of  earshot,  and  one  of  the  muffled  figures  fol- 
lowed him. 

"  Me  and  Bob  hain't  yet  made  up  our  minds 
whether  we'll  have  a  hand  in  this  business  or 
not,"  said  he,  in  a  hoarse  whisper.  "Looks 
most  too  risky,  don't  it?" 

"There  isn't  a  particle  of  risk  about  it,"  re- 
plied Willis.  "Do  you  think  I  would  put  the 
colonel's  nephew  in  danger  for  the  sake  of 
a  paltry  five  hundred  dollars  ?  I  tell  you, 
there's  nothing  to  fear.  The  colonel  told  me 
to  attend  to  this  business  for  him,  and  when 
he  finds 'I've  not  done  it,  what  shall  I  say  to 
him  ?  Do  you  want  me-  to  tell  him  that  you 


SOME  STAETLING  NEWS.  149 

wouldn't  obey  orders  because  you  were 
afraid?" 

"Well,  I  am  afraid,  and  that's  flat,"  said 
Tony,  doggedly.  "I  have  heared  of  Cap'n 
Jack,  and  I'm  scared  to  trust  myself  on  board 
his  ship." 

"  You  needn't  be,  for  the  colonel  will  pro- 
tect you.  Give  him  this  the  minute  you  get 
aboard,  and  it  will  see  you  through,"  said 
Willis,  slipping  an  envelope  into  the  pocket  of 
Tony's  pea-jacket.  "Now,  hurry  up,  for  the 
captain  is  in  a  great  taking  to  go  to  sea,  and 
he's  liable  to  run  out  at  any  moment.  He's 
been  waiting  a  long  time— 

"  He's  been  waiting  long  enough  to  get  good 
and  mad,  and  I  wouldn't  be  one  of  the  crew 
he  takes  to  sea  with  him  this  trip  for  all  the 
money  there  is  in  the  broad  world,"  said  Tony, 
with  a  shudder.  "He'll  haze  'em  till  they'll 
be  glad  to  jump  overboard." 

"  You  and  I  have  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  the  way  Captain  Jack  Eowan  sees  fit  to 
treat  his  crew, ' '  said  Willis  impatiently. 
"All  you  and  Bob  have  to  do  is  to  set  this  boy 
on  board  the  White  Squall,  so  that  he  can  get 


150  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

that  money.  But  mind  you  :  You  are  not  to 
tell  him  where  you  are  going.  He's  as  much 
afraid  of  the  White  Squall  as  you  seem  to  be, 
and  wouldn't  put  a  foot  over  her  rail  if  he 
knew  it.  He  thinks  he  going  into  the  city, 
and  that  you  are  to  take  him  straight  to  a  hack- 
stand. Say  yes  or  no,  and  be  quick  about  it. 
The  wind  is  rising  every  moment,  and  if  you 
don't  start  pretty  soon  you'll  not  be  able  to  get 
away  from  the  beach." 

"All  right,  Mr.  Willis.  We'll  tend  to  the 
business  for  you." 

Tony  spoke  these  words  in  a  tone  loud 
enough  to  reach  the  ears  of  Koy  Sheldon,  who 
remained  near  the  boat  in  company  with  the 
man  Bob.  The  former  supposed  the  words  had 
something  to  do  with  the  "order"  of  which 
Willis  had  spoken,  but  Bob  knew  they  were 
intended  to  convey  to  him  the  information  that 
the  job  on  hand  was  to  be  carried  out  just  as  it 
had  been  planned. 

"Jump  aboard,  lad,"  said  he,  motioning 
Roy  to  get  into  the  boat.  "  Holler  good-by  to 
the  old  man,  and  that  will  do  just  as  well  as 
shaking  hands  with  him." 


SOME   STARTLING   NEWS.  151 

But  Roy  had  no  opportunity  to  "holler" 
his  farewell,  even  if  he  had  thought  of  it ;  for 
by  the  time  the  boat  was  fairly  afloat,  the  crew 
in  their  places,  and  the  oars  shipped,  the  thick 
darkness  of  the  on-coming  storm  closed  down 
over  them,  and  the  beach  was  shut  out  from 
view. 

"I  reckon  that's  the  last  of  this  scrape  for 
one  while,"  soliloquized  Willis,  as  he  pulled  his 
hat  down  over  his  ears  and  retraced  his  steps 
to  the  house.  "If  there  ever  were  two  born 
fools  in  the  world,  they  are  me  and  Babcock. 
How  we  managed  to  make  such  a  blunder,  I 
can't  for  the  life  of  me  imagine.  Now  Howe 
Shelly  can  cut  his  lucky  and  go  and  find  his 
father  and  mother,  for  all  me.  I'll  never  try 
to  catch  him,  for  my  cue  now  is  to  make  folks 
believe  I've  had  him  here,  and  that  he  gave  me 
the  slip  and  cleared  out.  Is  that  you,  Benny? 
You  don't  know  how  you  startled  me." 

Just  then  some  one  stepped  out  into  the 
road  and  confronted  the  superintendent.  It 
was  his  son  ;  and  all  I  know  about  him  is  that 
he  was  called  "  a  chip  of  the  old  block,"  so  he 
must  have  been  a  rascal.  The  first  words  the 


152  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

young  man  spoke  proved  that  this  was  not  the 
first  interview  they  had  had  that  night. 

•'  Well,  how  is  it  ?"  said  he. 

"They've  gone,"  replied  his  father  shortly. 

"  Then  we've  seen  them  for  the  last  time  ; 
for  when  they  get  back  we'll  not  be  here. 
Captain  Jack  will  be  sure  to  carry  them  off 
with  him." 

"Ain't  you  kinder  sorry  to  treat  Tony  and 
Bob  that  way  ?  They'  ve  been  good,  faithful 
fellows,  and  I  hate  to  think  of  their  being 
kicked  and  knocked  about  by  those  mates." 

"  They're  used  to  it,  "  replied  Benny  indif- 
ferently. "Besides,  what  else  could  you  do? 
You  couldn't  keep  the  boy,  for  he  was  not  Rowe 
Shelly  ;  and  if  you  had  let  him  go,  he  would 
have  had  the  law  on  you  for  abduction.  You 
couldn't  have  hired  Bob  and  Tony  to  take  him 
aboard  the  White  Squall  and  leave  him  there, 
because  they  wouldn't  have  done  it,  and  they 
would  have  blabbed  about  it  into  the  bargain. 
By  doing  as  I  said,  you've  got  rid  of  the  whole 
of  them  at  once,  and  they'll  never  come  back 
to  trouble  you." 

The  superintendent  groaned 


SOME   STARTLING   NEWS.  153 

"I  know  what  you're  afraid  of,"  continued 
Benny.  "  You're  scared  that  the  ship  will  go 
to  the  bottom  with  all  hands.  Well,  .then, 
what  made  you  be  such  a  dunce  as  to  capture 
the  wrong  boy  ?  You  got  into  the  scrape  and 
you  had  to  get  out,  didn't  you?  Now  I'm 
going  to  bed." 

"There's  going  to  be  the  biggest  kind  of  a 
commotion  on  this  island,  and  before  long, 
too,"  said  Willis  dolefully.  "  I  have  warning 
of  it  in  every  breath  of  wind  that  comes  off 
the  bay." 

I  do  not  suppose  that  Willis  closed  his  eyes 
in  slumber  that  night.  It  would  have  been  a 
wonder  if  he  had  slept,  with  so  guilty  a  con- 
science for  company.  He  arose  at  an  early 
hour,  saw  the  yacht  when  she  put  off  through 
the  white-caps  shortly  after  daylight  to  bring 
the  morning's  mail  from  the  city,  and  waited 
with  what  patience  he  could  for  her  return. 
She  did  not  bring  any  of  Roy  Sheldon's 
friends  with  her,  but  she  landed  a  larger  sup- 
ply of  mail  than  usual,  and  in  it  the  superin- 
tendent found  a  letter  addressed  to  himself 
in  Rowe  Shelly' s  well-known  handwriting. 


154  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

Its  contents  were  enough  to  drive  one  frantic, 
Willis  told  himself.  He  had  hoped  that  the 
runaway  would  be  satisfied  now  that  he  had 
got  off  the  island,  and  that  he  would  quietly 
disappear  and  never  "turn  up1'  again;  but 
here  he  was  threatening  the  superintendent 
with  the  terrors  of  the  law  if  he  did  not  at 
once  release  the  boy  who  had  been  mistaken 
for  himself. 

"  Somebody  put  him  up  to  that,"  groaned 
Willis,  "  for  Kowe  never  would  have  thought 
of  such  a  thing  himself.  I  wish  I  could  send 
that  boy  back  where  he  belongs,  and  if  I  had 
ever  dreamed  of  this,  I  would  have  done  it.  I 
made  a  mistake  in  taking  Benny's  advice  and 
sending  Roy  Sheldon  away  to  be  "  shanghaed," 
for  instead  of  getting  out  of  trouble,  I  have 
only  pulled  myself  deeper  into  it.  What  is  it, 
Jobson  ? "  he  added,  addressing  himself  to 
one  of  the  hired  men  who  just  then  appeared 
at  the  door. 

"  I  came  in  to  see  if  you  could  tell  me  any- 
thing about  Tony  and  Bob  Bradley,"  was  the 
reply  ;  and  the  words  added  big  weight  to 
the  superintendent's  heavy  load  of  anxiety. 


SOME  STARTLING   NEWS.  155 

"They  are  not  on  the  island,  and  a  boat  that 
looks  wonderfully  like  theirs  is  being  driven 
ashore  from  the  Sound.  I  didn't  know  but 
you  might  have  sent  them  to  the  city  for 
something." 

"In  all  that  storm?"  exclaimed  Willis. 
"Say,  Jobson,"  he  continued,  changing  the 
subject,  for  it  was  one  he  did  not  like  to  dwell 


was  it  severe  enough  to  keep  vessels  from 
going  and  coming  ? " 

"Oh,  no.  I  see  the  White  Squall  has  left 
her  anchorage.  She  must  have  gone  out  in 
the  height  of  it,  for  she  was  there  when  I  went 
to  bed." 

"If  those  two  men  went  away  last  night 
they  did  it  without  any  orders  from  me,"  said 
Willis.  "It's  nothing  to  worry  over.  No 
doubt  they  will  come  around  presently.  So 
the  White  Squall  has  gone  at  last !  "  he  added, 
as  Jobson  left  to  continue  his  search  for 
Bob  and  Tony.  "She  has  been  anchored  out 
there  in  the  bay  for  more  than  two  weeks, 
waiting  for  a  chance  to  drug  and  steal  a  crew, 
and  if  she  has  sailed,  that  interloper  must 


156  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

hare  sailed  with  her.  In  that  case  it  will  be  a 
long  time  before  he  shows  up  again,  for  he'll 
not  touch  land  this  side  of  Cape  Town.  This  is 
too  damaging  a  thing  to  lay  around  loose,  so  I 
will  chuck  it  in  there,"  he  added,  tossing 
Howe's  letter  into  the  grate.  "Those  people 
from  the  city  will  be  along  in  the  course  of 
an  hour  or  so,  and  I  know  what  I  am  going  to 
say  to  them.  Now,  why  doesn't  Mrs.  Moffatt 
come  in  and  tell  me  that  Howe  has  run  away 
again?" 

Willis  picked  up  one  of  the  papers  which 
the  yacht  had  brought  from  the  city,  and  the 
minute  it  was  opened  his  eye  fell  upon  this 
startling  paragraph : 

"MUTINY  IN  THE  HARBOR. 

AN    INFAMOUS  VESSEL    AND   A    REBELLIOUS 

CREW. — A  SAILOR  PREFERS  DEATH  TO 

A  VOYAGE  IN  THE  WHITE  SQUALL. 

"Pilot-boat  No.  29,  Caleb  Rogers  master, 
which  was  driven  into  the  harbor  by  the  gale, 
reports  a  suicide  committed  under  peculiarly 
distressing  circumstance.  When  off  the  light- 
ship bound  in,  Captain  Rogers  passed  the 
White  Squall  going  out.  As  the  readers  of 


SOME   STARTLING   NEWS.  157 

TJie  Tribune  have  often  been  told,  this  inter- 
esting ship  had  lain  at  anchor  in  the  outer  bay 
for  nearly  three  weeks,  waiting  for  a  crew ; 
but  no  man  who  sails  out  of  this  port,  so  long 
as  he  kept  a  level  head  on  his  shoulders,  could 
be  induced  to  affix  his  name  to  her  shipping 
articles.  Now  and  then  a  few  foreigners, 
under  promise  of  big  pay,  plenty  to  eat  and 
kind  treatment,  have  been  coaxed  aboard  of 
her,  but  they  always  deserted  when  they 
found  out  where  they  were  and  who  the  captain 
was.  With  the  aid  of  shipping  agents,  or  in 
some  other  underhanded  way,  the  captain  at 
last  succeeded  in  mustering  crew  enough  to 
handle  his  vessel,  and  this  morning  she  went  out 
in  the  teeth  of  the  storm  that  forced  Captain 
Rogers  to  seek  shelter.  When  off  the  light- 
ship a  man  was  seen  to  spring  upon  her  rail  and 
deliberately  throw  himself  into  the  water.  At 
the  same  time  a  white  fishing-boat  was  cut 
loose  from  her  starboard  quarter,  and  the  wind 
blew  it  out  of  sight.  This,  Captain  Rogers 
thinks,  -made  it  evident  that  the  crew  had  laid 
their  plans  to  desert  in  a  body,  and  that  the 
plot  was  discovered  and  thwarted  by  the  of- 
ficers. Captain  Rogers  at  once  rounded  to, 
lowered  a  boat,  and  made  diligent  search  for 
the  poor  fellow  who  preferred  to  die  rather 
than  trust  himself  to  the  tender  mercies  of 


158  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

Captain  Jack  Rowan  and  liis  brutal  mates,  but 
he  must  have  sunk  immediately,  for  he  was 
not  seen  after  striking  the  water.  At  certain 
stages  of  the  tide,  heavy  vessels  like  the  White 
Squall  are  obliged  to  pass  quite  close  to  the 
ledge  that  bounds  the  northern  side  of  the 
channel,  and  in  ordinary  weather  a  fair  swim- 
mer might  succeed  in  reaching  the  lightship  ; 
but  under  the  circumstances  Captain  Rogers 
thinks  there  was  no  chance  for  this  unfortu- 
nate man's  life.  The  White  Squall  kept  on 
her  way  without  making  the  least  effort  to  pick 
him  up.  Now  what  is  the  use  of  having  any 
law,  we  should  like  to  know,  if  it  is  not  in- 
tended to  reach  just  such  ruffians  as  this  Cap- 
tain Jack  and  his  officers  ?  If  that  sailor  made 
way  with  himself  in  his  desperate  efforts  to 
escape  their  brutality,  they  ought  to  be  pun- 
ished with  the  utmost  severity." 

Willis  read  this  paragraph  with  eyes  that 
seemed  ready  to  start  from  their  sockets,  and 
long  before  he  finished  the  paper  was  shaking 
so  violently  in  his  hands  that  the  noise  it  made 
could  have  been  heard  across  the  room.  He 
understood  some  portions  of  the  paragraph  as 
well  as  though  he  had  stood  upon  the  White 
Squall's  deck  and  witnessed  the  thrilling 


SOME  STARTLING  NEWS.  159 

scenes  that  must  have  taken  place  there  before 
that  unhappy  sailor  gave  himself  up  to  the 
mercy  of  the  waves.  But  was  it  a  sailor  who 
jumped  overboard?  Might  it  not  have  been 
some  one  else  ?  How  did  he  know  but 
it  was — The  exclamations  that  fell  from  the 
superintendent's  lips  when  this  thought 
came  into  his  mind  can  not  be  expressed 
in  words,  for  I  do  not  know  how  to  spell 
them. 

"  Benny's  plan  worked  too  well,"  said  Wil- 
lis, throwing  down  the  paper  and  getting  upon 
his  feet.  "Why  didn't  he  stay  here  and  see 
me  through,  instead  of  going  off  in  the  yacht 
the  first  thing  in  the  morning  \  They  were  all 
shanghaied,  as  we  meant  they  should  be  ;  but 
was  there  any  one  in  the  white  fishing-boat 
that  was  cast  adrift  from  the  ship  and  which 
Jobson  says  is  now  coming  toward  the  island  ? 
And  who  was  the  fellow  who  jumped  over- 
board \  That  is  a  question  that  will  haunt  me 
till  I  go  ashore  and  learn  the  truth.  I  do  not 
think  Tony  or  Bob  would  do  a  thing  like  that, 
for  they  are  used  to  hard  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  shipmasters ;  and  if  it  was  Roy — 


160  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

Gracious  Peter  !  I'm  in  a  worse  scrape  than  I 
thought." 

Willis  did  not  have  time  to  follow  out  this 
train  of  thought,  for  just  then  Mrs.  Moffat 
came  into  the  room.  The  man  knew  well 
enough  what  she  was  going  to  say,  for  the 
look  of  anxiety  her  face  wore  could  be  easily 
interpreted. 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Willis,"  said  she,  with 
a  sorry  attempt  to  appear  as  cheerful  as  usual. 
"Have  you  seen  Rowe  since  we  left  him  in  his 
room  last  night?" 

"I  have  not,"  replied  the  superinten- 
dent, resuming  his  seat  and  once  more  un- 
folding the  paper.  "What  makes  you 
ask?" 

"Why,  I  went  up  just  now  to  tell  him 
breakfast  would  soon  be  ready,  and  he  wasn't 
there,"  answered  the  housekeeper.  "More 
than  that,  his  bed  was  not  slept  in." 

"That  doesn't  signify.  He  took  to  the 
lounge  probably,  and  went  out  before  any  of 
us  were  up  for  his  usual  morning's  spin  on  his 
wheel." 

"  But  he  took  his  wheel  when  he  went  to  the 


SOME  STARTLING   NEWS.  161 

city,  and  you  did  not  bring  it  back,"  Mrs. 
Moffatt  reminded  him. 

"  That's  so.  I  had  forgotten  about  it.  I'll 
send  for  it  as  soon  as  he  is  ready  to  tell 
me  where  he  left  it.  Then  he  took  his 
pony." 

"The  pony  hasn't  been  out  this  morning. 
The  hostler  told  me  so.  Mr.  Willis,"  said  the 
housekeeper,  becoming  earnest,  "I'm  afraid 
he's  gone." 

"Again?"  exclaimed  Willis,  as  if  the 
thought  had  just  been  suggested  to  him. 
"  Why,  we  only  brought  him  back  last  night." 

"  I  can't  help  that.  I  don't  believe  he  is  on 
the  island." 

The  man  knew  he  must  make  a  stir  about  it, 
for  any  lukewarmness  or  show  of  indifference 
on  his  part  would  be  reported  when  the  colonel 
returned,  and  Willis  was  not  yet  ready  to  give 
up  his  lucrative  position.  He  wanted  to  make 
a  little  more  money  out  of  it  first.  So  he  hur- 
ried from  the  house,  making  a  great  show  of 
nervousness  and  apprehension  ;  and  every  man 
lie  met  he  sent  off  to  make  inquiries  about 

Howe  Shelly, 
ll 


162  THE   STEEL  IIOESE. 

"If  he  has  run  away  again  I  shall  surely 
think  he  is  out  of  his  head,"  he  took  occasion 
to  remark,  in  Mrs.  Moffatt's  hearing.  "He 
couldn't  go  back  to  the  city  without  crossing 
the  bay,  and  no  boy,  or  man  either,  would 
think  of  trying  that  in  such  a  gale  as  we  had 
last  night  and  this  morning,  unless  he  was 
clean  gone  crazy.  Have  you  brought  any 
news,  Jobson?" 

"The  little  I've  got  is  bad  enough,"  replied 
the  hired  man.  "The  boat  I  was  telling  you 
about  a  while  ago  has  come  ashore  down  there 
in  the  cove — " 

"And  there's  nobody  in  it,"  exclaimed  the 
superintendent.  "Mrs.  Moffatt,  I  fear  the 
worst.  Howe  tried  to  reach  the  city  in  that 
boat,  and  the  storm  capsized  him.  I  am  afraid 
we  shall  never  see  him  again." 

"If  Rowe  went  off  in  that  boat  Bob  and 
Tony  must  have  gone  with  him,"  said  Jobson, 
"for  they  ain't  either  one  of  them  to  be  found 
on  the  island,  and  their  folks  don't  know  any- 
thing about  them." 

"Do  you  think  it  possible  that  Howe  could 
have  bribed  them  to  take  him  across  to  the 


SOME  STARTLING  NEWS.  163 

mainland?"  said  Willis  anxiously.  "If  lie 
did,  then  they  have  all  gone  to  their  death." 

"How  could  he  have  bribed  anybody  when 
he  had  no  money  ?"  cried  Mrs.  Moffatt. 

"Madam,"  replied  the  superintendent  im- 
pressively, "he  had  money,  and  plenty  of  it, 
too." 

"  When  and  how  did  he  get  it  ? " 

"  You  tell.  All  I  know  is,  that  every  dollar 
of  the  funds  the  colonel  left  in  my  hands  to  pay 
expenses  during  his  absence  has  disappeared." 

"I  don't  care  if  it  is,"  snapped  the  house- 
keeper. "Howe  Shelly  never  took  it.  He 
isn't  capable  of  such  a  thing." 

To  an  inexperienced  rascal  it  would  have 
seemed  as  though  the  situation  was  about  as 
bad  as  it  could  be,  and  even  Willis  trembled 
when  he  tried  to  look  far  enough  into  the 
future  to  see  what  the  outcome  was  likely  to 
be.  But,  as  it  happened,  he  was  saved  from 
the  consequences  of  his  folly  and  wickedness 
(for  the  present,  at  least),  by  one  of  those  un- 
expected freaks  of  fortune  that  sometimes  hap- 
pen in  this  world.  He  did  not  want  to  talk 
about  the  stolen  money,  especially  to  a  person 


164  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

as  sharp  of  tongue  and  as  firmly  convinced  of 
Howe's  innocence  as  Mrs.  Moffatt  was,  so  lie 
sent  word  to  the  captain  of  the  yacht  to  get 
ready  for  an  immediate  return  to  the  city,  and 
hastened  to  his  room.  His  first  care  was  to 
make  some  important  changes  in  his  wearing 
apparel,  and  his  second  to  hide  the  morning 
papers  and  take  possession  of  a  well-filled 
pocketbook  he  found  in  his  bureau. 

"I  don't  know  as  there  is  any  sense  in 
putting  those  papers  out  of  Mrs.  Moffatt' s 
sight,"  said  he  to  himself,  "but  somehow  I 
don' t  want  her  to  see  the  account  of  that  sui- 
cide until  I  am  away  from  here  and  out  of 
reach  of  her  tongue.  I  thought,  by  the  way 
she  looked  at  me,  that  she  rather  suspected 
me  of  stealing  that  money  ;  and  didn't  Rowe 
say  in  his  letter  that  if  there  was  any  money 
gone,  he'd  sooner  think  I  took  it  than  accuse 
anybody  else?  Well,  here  it  is,  and  more 
besides,  and  into  my  pocket  it  goes.  It  sort  of 
runs  in  my  head  that  I  am  going  to  see  and 
hear  something  before  I  get  back  ;  and  if  it 
should  be  anything  unpleasant,  I  shall  be  pre- 
pared to  take  the  train." 


SOME   STAKTLING   NEWS.  165 

Having  arranged  things  so  that  he  could 
run  or  stay,  as  circumstances  seemed  to  re- 
quire, Willis  hurried  to  the  jetty  and  ordered 
the  captain  of  the  yacht  to  shove  off.  Of 
course  the  strange  events  that  had  taken  place 
on  board  the  White  Squall  were  in  the  mouths 
of  all  the  yacht's  crew,  for  they  had  heard  all 
about  them  during  their  first  trip  to  the  city, 
and  besides  they  had  read  the  Tribune. 
Wherever  Willis  went,  into  the  pilot-house, 
the  engine-room,  or  on  the  forecastle,  he  was 
sure  to  hear  them  discussed  ;  and  after  repeat- 
edly declaring  that  he  didn't  know  anything 
about  them,  and  that  he  was  going  to  New 
London  to  see  if  he  could  learn  any  additional 
particulars,  Willis  finally  retreated  to  the  cabin 
and  tried  to  interest  himself  in  a  paper. 

What  it  was  that  induced  him  to  jump 
ashore  the  minute  the  yacht  landed,  and  draw 
a  bee-line  for  the  Lafayette  House,  the  super- 

tintendent  could  not  have  told.     But  he  went, 
* 

as  if  impelled  by  some  impulse  he  could  not 
resist,  and  the  first  person  he  saw  when  he  en- 
tered the  reading-room  was  the  very  one  he 
did  not  want  to  see.  It  was  Hoy  Sheldon. 


166  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

He  wore  a  bandage  over  one  eye,  the  other  was 
slightly  discolored,  and  Willis  noticed  that 
when  he  moved  his  right  arm  he  did  it  with 
some  difficulty.  It  had  evidently  been  injured 
in  some  way.  He  had  on  different  clothes,  a 
dress  suit,  in  fact,  consisting  of  blue  broad- 
cloth knickerbockers  and  shirt,  black  silk 
stockings,  low  shoes,  and  new  white  helmet. 
If  Willis  had  never  seen  him  before,  he  would 
have  rushed  up  and  called  him  Howe  Shelly  ; 
but  he  knew  it  wasn't  Howe.  He  took  just 
one  glance  at  him,  then  wheeled  about  to  re- 
tire without  attracting  his  notice,  when  Roy, 
who  was  impatiently  waiting  for  Joe  and 
Arthur,  looked  up  and  saw  him.  In  an  in- 
stant he  was  on  his  feet  and  coming  toward 
the  man,  who  could  not  retreat.  Roy  had  but 
to  say  a  word  to  bring  in  the  policeman  who 
was  standing  in  front  of  the  hotel.  But,  to 
the  superintendent's  great  surprise,  he  did  not 
say  it.  On  the  contrary  he  held  out  his  hand, 
and  even  tried  to  smile.  What  in  the  world 
did  it  mean  ?  Willis  asked  himself. 

"  Good -morning,"  said  Roy,  in  cheery  tones. 
"I  made  it,  as  you  see,  but  I  had  a  tight 


SOME  STARTLING  NEWS.  167 

squeak  for  it.  Say !  I  am  sorry  for  Tony  and 
his  friend.  The  waves  and  wind  got  so  heavy 
they  couldn't  make  headway  against  them  ; 
they  dared  not  round  to  and  go  back  to  the 
island  for  fear  of  a  capsize,  so  they  hailed  a 
ship  that  was  getting  under  way.  We  sup- 
posed that  she  was  going  to  pull  farther  into 
the  harbor  for  shelter ;  in  fact,  one  of  her 
officers  told  us  so.  But,  by  gracious !  the  min- 
ute we  got  aboard  what  did  that  scoundrel  of 
a  captain  do  but — Sit  down,  and  1  will  tell  you 
all  about  it.  It's  a  little  ahead  of  anything  I 
ever  heard  of.  Seen  this  morning' s  Tribune  ? ' ' 

4 'No;  that  is  to  say,  yes.  I've  seen  the 
Tribune,  but  no  other  paper,"  replied  Willis, 
who  was  so  astounded  that  he  hardly  knew 
what  he  said. 

"  Then,  of  course,  you  know  about  the  poor 
sailor-man  who  preferred  death  to  a  voyage  in 
the  White  Squall,"  continued  Roy.  "Well, 
there  wasn't  any  suicide.  The  fellow  who  de- 
liberately threw  himself  into  the  water  was  I ; 
and  I  tell  you  —Why  don' t  you  sit  down  ?  I'  m 
as  lame  as  though  I  had  been  pounded  with  a 
club,  although  I  know  I  was  struck  only  twice, 


168  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

once  in  each  eye,  and  almost  had  my  arm 
jerked  out  of  place.  I  can't  stand  long  at  a 
time." 

Willis  mechanically  seated  himself  and  lis- 
tened like  one  in  a  dream,  while  Roy  related 
the  following  story  of  his  adventure. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

O1ST  BOAKD  THE  WHITE  SQUALL. 

JUST  one  word  before  you  begin  your  story, " 
said  Willis,  who  was  not  entirely  satis- 
fied with  Roy's  friendly  speech  and  manner, 
believing,  as  he  did,  that  the  boy  might  have 
some  sinister  object  in  view.  He  was  afraid  to 
trust  anybody,  knowing  full  well  that  he  could 
not  be  trusted  himself. 

"As  many  words  as  you  please,"  replied 
Roy,  resuming  his  seat  and  placing  his  injured 
arm  in  a  comfortable  position  on  the  table  at 
his  side.  "  I  told  the  clerk  when  I  first  came 
back  that  I  wouldn't  be  interviewed  ;  but  I 
know  he  has  sent  three  reporters  after  me.  All 
they  learned  didn't  do  them  much  good.  You 
see  I  don't  want  my  name  to  appear  in  the 
papers,  for  my  folks  would  be  sure  to  see  it ; 
then  good-by  to  all  my  fine  plans  for  the  sum- 
mer. Of  course  you'll  not  say  a  word." 

"Not  I,"  replied  Willis.      "I  don't  want 
169 


170  THE  STEEL   HOUSE. 

everybody  to  know  what  fools  Babcock  and  I 
made  of  ourselves.  By  the  way,  have  you  seen 
Bab  this  morning  ?  " 

Roy  said  he  hadn't. 

"That's  all  right,  "  said  Willis  to  himself  ; 
and  he  was  so  immensely  relieved  that  he  could 
scarcely  keep  still  in  his  seat.  "Then  of 
course  you  don't  know  that  I  didn't  tell  you 
the  truth  when  I  said  Bab  had  warned  me  that 
you  were  not  Howe  Shelly.  That's  all  right. 
Now,  how  much  does  this  boy  know  or  sus- 
pect, I  wonder  ? "  Then  aloud  he  added :  "  I  am 
sorry  you  haven't  seen  Bab,  for  he  would  show 
you  a  photograph  of  Rowe  Shelly  he  has  in  his 
possession  ;  and  after  you  had  taken  one  look 
at  it,  you  would  see  how  we  came  to  mistake 
you  for  our  runaway.  I  hope  you  don't  bear 
me  any  ill-will  for — 

"  Of  course  I  don't,"  interrupted  Roy.  "  I 
don't  feel  hard  toward  you  or  Babcock  either. 
I  came  within  an  ace  of  losing  my  life  (I  don't 
see  how  I  managed  to  save  it,  having  never 
swum  a  stroke  in  so  rough  water  before),  but 
here  I  am,  safe  if  not  sound,  and  all's  well  that 
ends  well." 


ON   BOARD   THE   WHITE   SQUALL.  171 

"You  and  Howe  are  as  much  alike  as  two 
peas,"  began  Willis. 

"  I  can  easily  believe  that,  for  when  I  walked 
up  to  the  desk  the  clerk  began  asking  me 
questions  I  couldn't  understand  ;  but  I  can  see 
the  drift  of  some  of  them  now,  for  those  three 
reporters  have  been  at  me  since  then,  and  I 
know  Kowe  Shelly  was  here  in  this  hotel  last 
night,  and  that  he  went  somewhere  on  a 
steamer.  When  I  came  in  all  bunged  up,  the 
clerk  wanted  to  know  if  the  boat  had  burst  her 
boiler.'' 

"  Which  way  did  Rowe  go  ? "  asked  Willis, 
who  was  deeply  interested. 

"  I  don't  know,  and  you  wouldn't  expect  me 
to  tell  you  if  I  did,  would  you?  I  have  seen 
how  nicely  he  is  fixed  over  there  on  the  island, 
and  I  am  sure  that  if  there  wasn't  some  good 
reason  for  it,  he  would  never  leave  a  home  like 
that  and  go  out  among  strangers." 

"He  might  if  he  was  crazy,"  suggested 
AVillis. 

"And  where's  the  boy  who  would  not  go 
crazy  after  years  of  solitary  confinement,  no 
matter  if  his  prison  was  furnished  like  a  pal- 


172  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

ace  ? "  exclaimed  Roy.  "I'll  bet  you  that  you 
could  not  keep  me  shut  up  in  any  such  place 
as  that.  I  would  find  some  way  to  open  com- 
munication with  a  lawyer,  who  would  call 
upon  that  uncle  of  mine  to  show  cause  for 
detaining  me  against  my  will." 

"I  believe  you  would,"  thought  Willis, 
who,  as  he  gazed  into  the  boy's  flashing  eyes, 
told  himself  that  money  would  not  tempt  him 
to  take  charge  of  such  a  prisoner  as  Roy  would 
be  likely  to  prove.  He  knew  too  much,  was 
altogether  too  wide-awake,  and  the  desperate 
measures  he  had  adopted  to  escape  from  the 
White  Squall,  after  he  had  been  fairly  kid- 
napped, showed  that  he  was  by  no  means 
lacking  in  courage. 

Willis  wondered  if  any  of  those  rebellious 
ideas  had  been  put  into  Rowe  Shelly 's  head 
since  he  ran  away.  If  so,  the  next  time  his 
guardian  saw  him  he  would  probably  have  an 
attorney  at  his  back,  and  then  there  would  be 
fun  on  the  island.  Willis  really  wanted  in- 
formation on  this  point,  and  while  he  was 
wondering  how  he  could  get  it  without  asking 
questions  that  might  excite  Roy's  suspicions, 


ON   BOARD   THE   WHITE   SQUALL.  173 

the  matter  was  settled  in  a  most  unexpected 
way.  All  on  a  sudden  Roy  staggered  to  his 
feet  with  an  exclamation  of  surprise  and  pleas- 
ure on  his  lips,  and  darted  forward  to  fall  into 
the  arms  of  two  new-comers,  namely  Arthur 
Hastings  and  Joe  Wayring. 

"  Where  have  you  been  ?"  said  Roy,  as  soon 
as  he  could  speak.  "I  have  waited  and 
watched  for  the  last  seven  hours,  and  you 
don't  know  how  lonely  I  have  been  without 
you.'5 

"  Haw  !  "  laughed  Joe.  "  We  haven't  been 
gone  from  the  hotel  more  than  an  hour,  and 
you  were  not  here  when  we  went  away." 

"  We've  been  up  on  Bank  Street  to  call 
upon  Mr.  Wilcox,"  replied  Arthur,  with  a 
sidelong  glance  at  Willis.  "  Where  have  you 
been  to  get  mussed  up  in  this  way  ?  You  are 
a  nice  looking  specimen,  I  must  say.  Who's 
been  at  you  ?" 

u  I  can't  let  everything  out  at  once,  so  you 
must  ask  your  questions  one  at  a  time,"  said 
Roy,  motioning  to  his  chums  to  seat  them- 
selves. "  In  the  first  place,  this  is  Mr.  Willis, 
Colonel  Shelly' s  superintendent.  My  two 


174  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

friends,  Joe  Wayring  and  Arthur  Hastings, 
Mr.  Willis." 

To  Roy's  great  surprise  his  companions  did 
not  seem  particular] y  pleased  to  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Mr.  Willis.  They  nodded,  but 
did  not  offer  to  shake  hands  with  him. 

"Babcock  has  made  his  report  and  told 
everything  just  as  it  happened,''  said  Arthur. 
' '  We  have  seen  him,  and  he  says  he  never 
would  have  made  the  mistake  he  did  if  Willis 
had  not  insisted  that  you  were  the  boy  they 
were  looking  for." 

"  Then  Babcock  told  you  what  wasn't  so," 
exclaimed  Willis. 

"That's  what  he  told  us,  anyhow,"  said 
Joe.  "He's  outside  now  waiting  for  us. 
and  you  can  speak  to  him  about  it,  if  you 
want  to." 

"Waiting  for  you?"  repeated  Roy. 
"Where  are  you  going?" 

"  We  intended  to  hire  a  tug  and  go  over  to 
the  island  after  you,"  answered  Arthur. 

"  But  you  see  there's  no  need  of  it,  don't 
you  ?  Mr.  Willis  attended  to  that  as  soon  as  he 
became  satisfied  that  I  wasn't  Rowe  Shelly." 


ON   BOARD   THE   WHITE  SQUALL.  175 

"All!  That  puts  a  different  look  on  the 
matter,"  said  Joe.  "But  where  did  you  get 
those  black  eyes  if  you  didn't  get  them  while 
escaping  from  the  island  ?  " 

"  I  got  them  on  the  White  Squall,"  replied 
Roy,  "and  that  brings  me  to  the  story  I  was 
getting  ready  to  tell  Mr.  Willis  when  you  came 
in.  But  before  I  begin,  go  out  and  ask  that 
detective  to  come  here.  I  should  like  to  see 
the  photograph  he's  got  in  his  pocket.  I  am 
told  it  looks  just  like  me." 

"  And  so  it  does,  at  first  glance,"  said  Ar- 
thur, rising  from  his  seat.  "But  the  more 
one  gazes  upon  it,  the  less  it  looks  like  you. 
You  shall  see  for  yourself." 

"Let  me  go  after  Babcock,  please,"  Willis 
interposed,  "and  you  stay  here  and  talk  to 
your  friends.  I  will  bring  him  right  in." 

There  was  nothing  strange  in  this  proposi- 
tion, so  Arthur  sat  down  again,  while  Willis 
went  out  to  make  things  straight  with  the  de- 
tective. He  didn't  want  him  to  come  into 
Roy's  presence  until  he  had  opportunity  to 
post  him, 

"So  that's  the  scamp  who  got  you  into  so 


176  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

much  trouble,  is  it?"  said  Arthur,  in  tones  of 
disgust.  "We  meant  to  have  him  arrested  if 
he  didn't  talk  pretty  smoothly  to  us,  and  yet 
we  find  you  and  him  here  as  thick  as  a  couple 
of  thieves." 

"Now,  what's  the  sense  in  going  on  like 
that?"  demanded  Roy.  "If  I  am  satisfied 
with  his  story,  I'm  sure  you  ought  to  be. 
Willis  is  all  right.  The  minute  he  learned 
that  I  wasn't  Howe  Shelly,  he  woke  me  up  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  put  me  into  a  boat 
with  two  good  men  to  row  it,  and  sent  me  over 
to  the  city.  He  was  as  anxious  to  be  rid  of  me 
as  I  was  to  find  you.  Now  see  if  you  can't 
treat  him  decently  when  he  comes  back." 

How  Willis  would  have  hugged  himself  if 
he  could  have  heard  Roy  Sheldon  say  this! 
There  was  not  the  faintest  suspicion  in  the 
boy's  mind  that  the  superintendent  had  been 
guilty  of  treachery,  and  that  he  had  sent  him 
on  board  the  White  Squall  intending  that  he 
should  be  "shanghaied"  and  carried  so  far 
away  from  America  that  he  would  not  get  back 
for  six  months  or  a  year.  If  Roy  had  mis- 
trusted that  there  was  anything  wrong,  his 


ON   BOARD   THE   WHITE   SQUALL.  177 

fears  on  that  score  would  have  vanished  when 
he  saw  Bob  and  Tony  driven  forward  to  do 
duty  before  the  mast,  and  their  boat  given 
up  to  the  mercy  of  the  waves.  He  thought 
they  had  unwittingly  brought  themselves  and 
him  into  serious  trouble.  That  was  all  there 
was  of  it. 

I  never  heard  just  how  Willis  went  to  work 
to  put  himself  on  a  friendly  footing  with  the 
detective,  but  my  impression  is  that  he  told 
him  the  whole  truth,  and  offered  Babcock  a 
bonus  if  he  would  back  up  anything  he  might 
say  in  the  hearing  of  Roy  and  his  friends.  At 
all  events  that  was  what  the  detective  did. 
When  he  entered  the  reading-room  he  took  a 
photograph  from  his  pocket,  and  after  spend- 
ing a  minute  or  two  in  comparing  it  with  the 
face  of  the  boy  before  him,  he  stepped  up  and 
handed  it  to  Roy. 

"  So  that's  the  way  I  look  when  I  haven't  a 
black  eye  and  a  lame  arm,  is  it? "  said  the  lat- 
ter, as  his  gaze  rested  on  the  picture.  "I 
know  something  now  1  never  knew  before." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  asked  Joe. 

"That    I    am    the    handsomest    and    most 

12 


178  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

stylish  looking  chap  in  our  party,"  replied 
Roy. 

"We  haven't  time  for  any  more  nonsense  of 
that  sort,"  said.  Arthur.  ''Mr.  Babcock,  our 
missing  friend  has  turned  up,  as  you  see,  and 
so  we  shall  not  be  obliged  to  go  to  the  island. 
How  much  do  we  owe  you  ? " 

"Not  a  red  cent,"  said  the  detective,  who 
was  glad  indeed  that  his  mistake  and  Willis' s 
seemed  in  a  fair  way  to  straighten  itself  out, 
and  that  he  wasn'  t  going  to  get  into  difficulty 
through  the  blunder  he  had  made  the  night 
before.  "I  am  heartily  sorry  that  I  caused 
you  and  your  friend  so  much  trouble  and 
anxiety." 

"But  he  did  his  best  to  undo  it,"  chimed  in 
Willis.  "He  went  over  to  the  island  and  told 
me  to  set  the  boy  ashore  as  soon  as  I  could, 
and  give  him  a  guide  to  show  him  to  his  hotel, 
and  that  was  the  way  I  came  to  send  him  off 
in  the  boat  that  was  caught  in  the  storm.  I 
might  have  waited  until  morning,  but  Roy 
wouldn't  hear  of  it." 

"Of  course  not,"  assented  Roy.  "  I  wanted 
to  see  my  friends  and  relieve  their  suspense." 


ON   BOAKD   THE   WHITE   SQUALL.  179 

"I  guess  we  have  asked  questions  enough 
for  the  present,"  said  Arthur,  who  was  im- 
patient to  know  how  Roy  came  to  have  those 
black  eyes,  "and  now  we'd  like  to  have  you 
tell  us  why  you  didn't  come  ashore  in  better 
shape,  when  you  had  a  boat  and  two  good  men 
to  manage  it  for  you." 

Roy's  story  was  none  the  less  interesting 
because  it  had  been  so  long  delayed.  I  have 
told  you  how  he  left  the  island  without  oppor- 
tunity to  shout  his  adieu  to  the  superintend- 
ent, even  if  he  had  thought  of  it ;  but  he 
didn't.  The  waves  made  a  fearful  noise  as 
they  broke  upon  the  beach,  and  came  with 
such  force  that  Bob  and  Tony  were  obliged  to 
wade  in  until  the  water  reached  to  their  waists 
before  they  could  launch  the  boat  and  ship  the 
oars.  By  the  time  this  had  been  done,  dark- 
ness closed  down  upon  them  and  shut  the 
island  from  view. 

When  they  got  out  from  under  the  cliffs 
where  the  wind  had  a  fair  sweep,  the  way  the 
boat  began  to  pitch  and  toss  about  was  alarm- 
ing, and  Roy  lived  in  momentary  expecta- 
tion of  seeing  her  come  about  and  start  back 


180  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

for  the  island.  But  lie  was  a  canoeist  instead 
of  a  deep-water  sailor,  and  perhaps  that  was 
the  reason  he  was  frightened.  For  he  was 
frightened,  as  he  was  afterwards  free  to  con- 
fess ;  more  so  than  he  would  have  been  if  he 
could  have  had  a  hand  in  the  management  of 
the  boat.  But  there  were  only  two  oars,  and 
no  rudder  to  steer  by,  and  all  Roy  could  do 
was  to  sit  still  in  the  stern-sheets  and  wish  the 
trip  was  at  an  end. 

"  What  are  you  holding  so  far  to  the  right 
for?"  Roy  demanded  at  length,  shouting  at 
the  top  of  his  voice  in  order  to  make  himself 
heard.  "The  city  is  off  there,  more  to  the 
left." 

"There's  a  hack-stand  where  we  are  headin' 
for,"  came  a  hoarse  voice,  in  reply,  "and 
there  you  can  get  a  carriage  to  take  you 
straight  to  your  hotel .  More'  n  that,  we  dassent 
run  afore  the  waves  with  only  two  oars,  for 
fear  that  one  of  'em  will  come  in  over  the 
starn  an'  sink  us.  We  have  to  run  kinder 
criss-cross  of  'em." 

"But  you  don't  take  them  quartering," 
protested  Roy.  ' '  You  are  holding  so  that  they 


OX   BOARD   THE    WHITE   SQUALL.  181 

strike  almost  broadside.  I'd  rather  you'd 
round  to  and  go  back.  That's  what  Mr.  Willis 
told  you  to  do  in  case  you  found  the  wind  and 
sea  too  heavy  for  you." 

"I'd  like  mighty  well  to  do  it,"  Tony  made 
answer,  "but  I  dassent.  Now  that  we've  got 
this  fur,  we've  got  to  go  on.  If  we  should 
turn  around  the  sea  would  come  pourin'  in 
over  the  side  an'  take  all  hands  to  the  bottom 
afore  you  could  say  '  hard-a-starboard '  with 
your  mouth  open.  Do  you  see  that  bright 
light  dead  ahead  ?  Well,  there's  where  the 
pier  is,  if  we  can  keep  afloat  till  we  get  there." 

Roy  may  have  been  mistaken,  but  he  was 
positive  he  heard  the  man  add,  in  a  lower  tone, 
as  if  the  words  were  intended  only  for  his 
companion's  ears : 

"Cap'n  Jack  must  be  a-lookin'  for  a  crew 
to-night,  else  he  wouldn't  have  that  light  out 
so  open  and  suspicious  like.  Well,  it's  the 
best  kind  of  a  night  for  that  sort  of  work,  but 
I'm  sorry  for  the  poor  chaps  he  gets." 

The  next  time  Tony  faced  about  on  his  seat  to 
make  sure  of  the  course  he  was  pursuing,  the 
bright  light  had  disappeared  ;  and  when  the 


182  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

wind  lulled  for  a  moment,  the  faint  clanking 
of  a  capstan  came  to  his  ears.  The  sound 
seemed  to  nerve  him  and  Bob  to  greater  exer- 
tion. 

"Pull,  ye  rascal,"  shouted  Tony,  so  that 
Roy  could  hear  it.  "  It's  comin'  harder  every 
blessed  minute,  an'  the  wind  an'  tide  together 
is  takin'  us  out  to  sea  as  fast  as  they  can. 
Pull,  why  don't  ye  ?  Do  you  see  a  ship  or  a 
coaster  anywheres,  I  don' t  know  ?  If  you  do. 
sing  out  an'  ask  'em  can  we  come  aboard  of 
her  till  the  wind  dies  down  a  bit." 

"Look  out!"  yelled  Roy,  as  something 
black  and  huge  loomed  out  of  the  darkness 
directly  in  their  course.  "We're  running  into 
a  block  of  houses." 

But  it  was  a  heavy  ship  that  barred  their 
way,  as  Roy  found  when  they  got  a  little 
closer  to  her.  She  was  weighing  anchor,  and 
the  clanking  of  the  capstan  came  from  her 
forecastle. 

"On  deck  there  !  "  shouted  Tony.  " Goin' 
to  change  your  berth,  or  what  you  goin'  to 
do?" 

Some  answer  came  back,  but,  although  the 


ON   BOARD   THE   WHITE   SQUALL.  183 

words  were  plain  enough,  Roy  could  not  un- 
derstand it.  It  was  evident,  however,  that 
Tony  could,  for  he  called  out : 

"  Goin'  to  pull  farther  in  for  shelter,  are 
you?  All  right.  Will  you  let  some  tired 
sailor-men  aboard  of  you  to  ride  in?  We' 11  be 
glad  to  lend  a  hand." 

This  time  there  was  no  mistaking  the 
answer. 

"  You're  as  welcome  as  the  flowers  in  May," 
said  a  deep  voice.  ' ;  Drop  around  under  our 
lee  and  come  up." 

"Be  in  a  hurry,  Bob,"  cried  Tony,  as  he 
dropped  back  upon  his  seat  and  gave  way  on 
his  oar.  * '  The  staysail  is  fillin' ,  an'  if  she 
falls  off  much  she'll  run  us  under." 

That  was  a  moment  of  fearful  suspense  to 
the  inexperienced  Roy,  who,  dark  as  it  was, 
could  see  that  the  immense  ship  was  gradually 
swinging  around  toward  the  boat,  slowly,  to 
be  sure,  but  with  a  power  that  seemed  irre- 
sistible. But  his  crew  were  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion. They  easily  got  out  of  her  reach, 
dropped  around  under  her  stern,  and  when 
Tony  gave  the  word,  Bob  seized  the  painter 


184  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

and  tossed  it  up  to  some  one  on  deck,  who 
promptly  made  it  fast. 

"  Up  you  come  with  a  jump,"  said  a  com- 
manding voice,  as  Bob  went  up  the  painter 
hand  over  hand,  while  Tony  lingered  to  stow 
the  oars  so  that  the  waves  would  not  wash 
them  out  of  the  boat. 

"Toddle  for' ard  and  lend  a  hand  with  the 
head-sails,  if  you  know  enough  to  find  the 
ropes  in  the  dark.  Do  you?"  added  the 
voice,  as  Bob  tumbled  over  the  side  and  stood 
upon  the  deck  facing  the  speaker,  who  held  up 
a  lighted  lantern  so  that  he  could  have  a  good 
view  of  the  sailor's  features.  His  own  features 
were  revealed  as  well,  and  Bob  stared  hard  at 
them. 

"  Well,  if  you  are  Cap'n  Jack  Rowan,"  was 
his  mental  reflection,  "  you  are  as  fine  a  speci- 
men of  a  sea-tiger  as  I  ever  looked  at  ; 
an'  I  wish  Tony  an'  Willis  an'  that  young 
monkey  who  brought  me  into  your  den 
was  all  sunk  a  hunderd  fathoms  deep,  so 
I  do." 

"Here's  another  and  another,"  exclaimed 
the  man  with  the  lantern,  as  Roy  and  Tony 


ON  BOARD   THE   WHITE  SQUALL.  185 

came  over  the  rail.  "  Is  that  all  of  you  ?  Go 
for'ard  and  lend  a  hand." 

"Hold  hard,  sir,"  said  Tony.  "I've  got  a 
letter  for  you."  And  after  considerable  fumb- 
ling in  the  pocket  of  his  pea-jacket  with  his 
hand,  Tony  drew  it  out  and  gave  it  to  the  cap- 
tain, who  said  "  All  right,"  and  hurried  to  his 
cabin  to  read  it ;  for  the  light  of  the  lantern 
was  so  dim  that  he  could  not  even  decipher  the 
writing  on  the  envelope. 

"A  letter  for  him!"  thought  Roy.  "It's 
very  strange.  That  looks  as  though  Tony  ex- 
pected to  find  this  ship  here,  and  that  he  was 
holding  straight  for  her  when  he  declared  he 
was  heading  for  a  hack-stand.  But  what's  the 
odds?  I'd  rather  have  a  good  ship  under  me 
than  be  out  in  this  wind  in  a  cranky  little 
boat." 

Having  never  been  aboard  a  seagoing  vessel 
before,  Roy  Sheldon  would  have  taken  the 
deepest  interest  in  all  that  was  going  on  around 
him  if  there  had  only  been  light  enough  for 
him  to  see  plainly ;  but  he  made  some  observa- 
tions in  spite  of  the  darkness.  He  found  that 
the  deck  under  his  feet  seemed  to  be  as  solid 


186  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

as  the  ground  ;  that  the  waves  which  had 
tossed  Tony's  boat  like  a  chip  in  a  inill-pond 
had  but  little  effect  upon  the  ship's  huge  bulk  ; 
and  he  gave  it  as  his  private  opinion  that  she 
was  big  enough  and  strong  enough  to  ride  out 
any  storm  that  ever  swept  the  ocean.  But 
there  was  one  thing  Roy  did  not  know,  and  he 
was  two  or  three  hundred  miles  from  New 
London  harbor  when  he  found  it  out.  Strong 
as  she  appeared  to  be,  the  ship  was  unsea- 
worthy,  her  timbers  were  decayed,  and  the  un- 
derwriters wouldn't  look  at  her.  The  owner 
was  taking  his  personal  risk  in  sending  her 
abroad  with  a  valuable  cargo,  and  that  was 
one  reason  why  she  had  found  it  so  hard  to 
ship  a  crew. 

"  Lay  for'ard  an'  lend  a  hand  with  the  head- 
sails,"  said  Tony,  when  the  man  with  the  lan- 
tern disappeared  down  the  companion-Avay. 
"Come  along,  lad,  and  we'll  make  a  sailor-man 
of  you." 

Nothing  loth,  Roy  stumbled  forward  in 
Tony's  wake,  laid  hold  of  a  rope  when  his 
guide  did,  and  pulled  with  all  his  strength, 
although  he  had  not  the  slightest  idea  what  he 


ON  BOARD   THE  WHITE  SQUALL.  187 

and  the  rest  were  pulling  for.  As  often  as  the 
flashes  of  lightning  illumined  the  scene,  he 
improved  the  opportunity  to  take  a  survey  of 
his  surroundings  ;  but  all  he  saw  was  that 
there  was  a  heavy  sail  slowly  rising  over  his 
head,  and  that  there  were  a  goodly  number  of 
men  on  deck,  all  of  whom  were  working  at 
something.  He  was  so  deeply  occupied  with 
his  own  thoughts,  wondering  how  he  would 
feel  if  he  were  going  to  sea  on  that  ship  as  one 
of  the  crew,  and  be  required  to  scrub  decks, 
tug  at  wet  ropes,  go  aloft  in  all  sorts  of 
weather,  and  submit  to  hard  fare  and  hard 
treatment  besides. — Roy's  mind  was  so  busy 
with  these  reflections  that  he  did  not  hear  the 
command,  '"Vast  heavin'.  Slack  away  on 
that  halliard,"  nor  did  he  dream  that  the 
order  was  addressed  to  himself,  until  the  rope, 
at  which  he  was  still  pulling  with  all  his  might, 
was  jerked  from  his  hands  with  such  force 
that  Roy  was  sent  headlong  to  the  deck.  He 
scrambled  to  his  feet  as  quickly  as  he  could, 
but  before  he  reached  a  perpendicular  some 
enraged  sailor  gave  him  a  hearty  kick. 

"I  guess   they  don't  want    me    around," 


188  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

thought  Roy,  "and  no  doubt  I  am  in  the  way 
so  I'll  go  aft.  Is  that  that  the  way  they  use  a 
foremast  hand,  I  wonder — kick  him  when  he 
falls  down  through  no  fault  of  his  own  ?  I  am 
glad  I  am  not  a  sailor." 

When  Roy  had  a  chance  to  look  about  him, 
as  he  did  as  often  as  the  lightning  flashed  over 
the  deck,  he  saw  that  a  good  many  things  had 
been  done  during  the  few  minutes  that  had 
elapsed  since  he  boarded  the  vessel.  Besides 
the  sailors  who  were  busy  with  the  head-sails, 
a  second  party  of  men,  under  another  officer, 
had  been  equally  active  on  the  quarter-deck  ; 
another  huge  sail  had  been  given  to  the  breeze, 
and  a  man  sent  to  the  wheel.  The  vessel  was 
gathering  rapid  headway,  and,  what  seemed 
strange  to  Roy,  she  was  not  rounding  to  in 
order  to  go  up  the  harbor,  because  the  lights 
which  pointed  out  the  position  of  the  piers  in 
the  lower  end  of  the  city  were  still  on  the  left 
hand,  and  one  by  one  they  danced  away  out 
of  sight  over  the  port  quarter.  The  ship  was 
holding  straight  for  the  entrance  to  the  bay, 
through  which  she  would  soon  pass  to  the 
open  sea. 


ON   BOARD   THE   WHITE  SQUALL.  189 


it 


By  gracious  !  We  shall  be  in  a  pretty  fix 
if  we  don't  get  off  immediately,"  soliloquized 
Roy,  holding  fast  to  the  rail  and  looking  in 
vain  for  Tony  and  Bob.  "What  can  those 
men  be  thinking  of?  If  they  delay  much 
longer  I  shall  cast  off  in  that  boat  and  do  the 
best  I  can  by  myself." 

"Lay  aloft  and  loose  to'gallantsails, " 
shouted  a  voice,  almost  in  Eoy's  ear.  "  Up 
you  go,  ye  young  sea-monkey  ! ' ' 

"  I  don't  belong  here,"  replied  Roy,  turning 
about  and  finding  himself  face  to  face  with  one 
of  the  mates,  who  emphasized  his  order  by 
waving  his  arm  toward  the  topsail  yard. 
"But  I'll  do  the  best  I  can  if  you  think  you 
can  trust  me.  How  long  before  you  are  going 
to  run  into  the  harbor?" 

If  the  mate  heard  and  understood  the  ques- 
tion he  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  reply  to  it. 
He  simply  shouted,  "Lay  aloft  and  be  quick 
about  it !  "  and  then  backed  up  against  the  rail 
so  that  he  could  watch  the  movements  of  the 
men  who  had  already  responded  to  the  com- 
mand to  loose  topgallant-sails. 

"  Iknow  I'll  not  be  of  the  least  use  up  there," 


190  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

said  Roy,  as  lie  scrambled  up  the  ratlines, 
"  but  I'll  have  something  to  talk  about  when  I 
get  ashore." 

Roy  worked  his  way  upward  until  his  pro- 
gress was  stopped  by  something  that  frightened 
him.  It  was  the  f  uttock-shrouds,  the  terror  of 
every  greenhorn.  -Above  his  head  was  a  sort 
of  platform,  with  an  opening  through  it  large 
enough  to  admit  of  the  passage  of  an  ordinary 
sized  man,  and  over  the  edge  of  it  ran  a  rope 
ladder  to  a  second  series  of  shrouds  leading  to 
a  similar  platform  still  higher  up.  That  was 
the  way  Roy  described  the  situation  to  himself, 
and  it  is  the  only  way  I  can  describe  it,  for  an 
Expert  Columbia  is  not  supposed  to  know  any 
thing  about  ships. 

"Great  Scott!"  panted  Roy;  "do  the 
sailors,  every  time  they  go  aloft,  have  to  creep 
around  the  outer  edge  of  that  platform,  and  hang 
with  their  backs  downward,  like  flies  on  a  ceil- 
ing? or  do  they  go  through  that  opening  close 
to  the  mast?  I  wonder  if  that  isn't  the  'lub- 
ber's hole'  I  have  so  often  read  of?  I  don't 
care  what  it  is  ;  I'll  stay  here.  But  why  don't 
the  ship  come  about  and  go  toward  the  harbor, 


ON   BOARD   THE  WHITE   SQUALL.  191 

if  she's  going  to?  I  wonder  if  that  light  off 
there,  which  blazes  up  so  brightly  every  min- 
ute or  two  and  then  disappears,  isn't  on  the 
lightship.  If  it  is,  this  ship's  going  to  sea, 
and  we'll  go  with  her  if  we  don't  get  off 
directly." 

While  the  boy  was  talking  to  himself  in  this 
way  he  did  not  permit  any  thing  that  transpired 
within  the  range  of  his  vision  to  escape  his 
notice.  He  might  never  again  have  opportun- 
ity to  see  sail  made  aboard  ship,  and  now  was 
the  time  for  him  to  learn  something.  He 
heard  an  almost  constant  scurrying  of  feet  be- 
low, mingled  with  a  chorus  of  unintelligible 
commands,  some  of  which  were  addressed  to 
the  dozen  or  more  men  who  were  clinging  to  a 
swaying  yard  over  his  head,  and  finally  an  an- 
swering u  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  came  out  of  the  darkness 
and  the  men  began  to  "lay  down  from  aloft." 
Before  Roy  knew  what  they  meant  to  do,  they 
were  crowding  past  him  on  their  way  to  the 
deck.  Tha  last  to  go  by  him  was  Tony. 

"  What  you  doin'  here,  lad  ?  "  he  exclaimed. 
"  Why  didn't  you  come  up  higher  an'  lend  a 
hand  with  the  topsail  ?" 


192  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

11  The  mate  or  some  other  officer  told  me  to 
come,  and  here  I  am  ;  although  I  assured  him 
I  wouldn't  be  of  any  use,"  replied  Roy.  "I 
was  afraid  to  go  any  higher.  Look  here ; 
isn't  it  about  time  we  were  going  ashore?  I 
don't  believe  this  ship  means  to  go  up  the  har- 
bor at  all." 

Tony  made  some  reply  under  his  breath,  but 
Roy  did  not  understand  it. 

"  What's  that  flash  I  see  every  little  while 
off  the  port  bow  ?  "  he  continued.  "  It  comes 
from  the  lightship  which  is  anchored  at  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor,  doesn't  it?  We're  going 
as  close  to  her  as  we  can  lie  in  this  wind,  and 
when  we  pass  her  we'll  be  outside,  won't  we  ? 
You  had  better  find  out  whether  or  not  the 
captain  wants  to  send  any  word  off  in  response 
to  the  letter  you  gave  him,  and  then  we'll 
go  ashore." 

Roy  was  not  a  little  surprised  by  the  way. 
Tony  acted  while  he  was  talking  to  him.  He 
clung  to  the  shrouds  with  one  hand,  holding 
his  hat  on  with  the  other,  all  the  time  uttering 
the  most  incomprehensible  ejaculations,  and 
glaring  wildly  around  as  if  he  were  trying  to 


ON  BOARD   THE   WHITE   SQUALL.  193 

get  his  bearings.  At  last  he  seemed  to  recover 
his  power  of  speech  by  a  mighty  effort,  and 
something  he  said  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  all 
through  Roy  Sheldon. 

"  She's  a-goin',  easy  enough,  an',  lad,  me  an' 
you  an'  Bob  is  shanghaied,"  stammered  Tony. 

Roy  did  not  grasp  the  full  meaning  of  the 
last  word.  It  was  the  sailor's  manner  that 
impressed  and  frightened  him. 


13 


CHAPTER    IX. 

A    SWIM     IN    KOUGH    WATER. 

*~"VT~ES,  sir,  we're  shanghaied,"  repeated 
JL  Tony,  looking  over  his  shoulder  at 
the  lights  on  shore,  which  appeared  to  be 
moving  away  from  the  ship,  and  going  faster 
and  faster  as  the  minutes  flew  by.  "That's 
what's  the  matter  of  me  an'  you  an'  Bob. 
We've  been  stole  from  our  homes  an'  friends 
an'  tooken  to  sea  agin  our  will." 

"  No  !  "  gasped  Roy,  who  was  almost  para- 
lyzed by  these  ominous  words.  "  It  can't  be 
possible." 

"  That's  what  the  matter  of  us,  an'  you'll 
find  it  so." 

"But I' 11  not  go.  I  don't  belong  aboard 
this  ship,  and  the  captain  has  no  business  to 
take  me  to  sea  against  my  will." 

"  Small  odds  it  makes  to  the  likes  of  him 
whether  he's  got  any  business  to  do  it  or  not," 

194 


A   SWIM   Itf   ROUGH   WATER.  195 

answered  Tony,  who,  far  from  showing  the 
least  sign  of  anger  over  the  outrage  of  which 
he  was  the  victim,  seemed  disposed  to  accept 
his  fate  with  as  much  fortitude  as  he  was  able 
to  command.  "  Where  have  you  lived  all  your 
life,  that  you  don't  know  that  that's  the  way 
shipmasters  sometimes  do  when  they  can't 
raise  a  crew  as  fast  as  they  want  to  ?  They 
get  men  aboard  their  vessels  an'  run  away  with 
'em.  That's  what  they  are  doin'  with  us." 

"But  I'll  not  do  duty,  I  tell  you,"  exclaimed 
Eoy,  fairly  dazed  by  the  gloomy  prospect  be- 
fore him.  "I  can't,  for  I  am  not  a  sailor. 
Let's  go  down  and  tell  the  captain  to  luff  and 
let  us  off." 

"  'T won't  do  no  good,"  answered  Tony,  with 
a  sigh  of  resignation.  "He'll  only  swear  at 
you  an'  say  that  the  mates  will  very  soon 
break  you  in  an'  larn  you  your  duty.  We're 
in  for  a  long,  hard  voyage,  an'  might  as  well 
give  up  all  thoughts  of  gettin'  ashore  first  as 
last." 

"Never!"  said  Eoy,  wrathfully.  "If 
there  is  such  a  thing — " 

"Lay  down  from  aloft!"   shouted  a  voice 


196  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

from  the  deck,  following  up  the  command  with 
a  volley  of  oaths  and  threats  that  were  enough 
to  make  a  landsman  shudder. 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  replied  Tony.  "Why  don't 
you  say  the  same,  lad?  You've  got  to  come 
to  it,  for  it  will  be  worse  for  you  if  you  don1 1. 
There  ain't  the  least  use  in  kickin',  for  Cap'n 
Jack  has  got  us  hard  an'  fast." 

Roy,  who  could  plainly  hear  the  beating  of 
his  heart  above  the  howling  of  the  gale,  which 
seemed  to  be  increasing  in  fury  every  moment, 
followed  Tony  to  the  deck,  and  immediately 
made  his  way  aft  to  demand  an  interview  with 
the  captain.  He  found  him  easily — at  least  he 
found  the  man  who  went  below  with  the  lan- 
tern— and  thus  addressed  him  : 

"Captain,  I  thought  you  were  going  into 
the  harbor  for  shelter,  but  I  find  you  are  going 
to  sea.  Will  you  luif  long  enough  to  let  me 
and  my  crew  get  into  our  boat  and  shove  oif  \ " 

To  Roy's  surprise  and  indignation  the  cap- 
tain did  not  appear  to  be  listening  to  him  at 
all.  He  kept  his  gaze  fastened  upon  something 
ahead  of  the  ship,  and  now  and  then  turned  to 
give  an  order  to  the  man  at  the  wheel.  If  Roy 


A  SWIM   IN   ROUGH   WATER.  197 

had  only  known  it,  he  was  forcing  himself 
upon  the  captain's  notice  at  a  most  critical 
time.  The  latter  was  trying  to  take  his  vessel 
out  of  the  bay  without  the  aid  of  a  pilot,  and 
of  course  his  attention  was  so  fully  occupied 
that  he  had  neither  the  leisure  nor  the 
inclination  to  listen  to  any  requests  or  com- 
plaints. 

"  Starboard  a  spoke  or  two.  Steady  at  that. 
Mr.  Crawford,"  shouted  the  captain,  address- 
ing one  of  his  mates,  ' '  if  that  man  with  the 
lead  can't  speak  so  that  I  can  hear  him,  knock 
him  overboard  and  put  somebody  else  in  his 
place.  How  close  to  the  light-ship  can  I  run 
in  this  tide?" 

"If  you  don't  run  in  closer  than  you  are 
now  you'll  be  aground  in  a  minute  more,"  was 
the  reply  that  was  shouted  aft.  "  Quarter  less 
three  on  the  port  bow." 

Roy  paid  little  attention  to  this  conversa- 
tion, though  he  thought  of  it  afterward,  for  it 
was  a  most  fortunate  thing  for  him  that  the 
vessel  was  obliged  to  run  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  light- ship.  He  wanted  the  skip- 
per  to  speak  to  him. 


198  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"  Captain,"  said  he  in  a  louder  tone,  at  the 
same  time  drawing  a  step  nearer  and  taking 
the  unwarrantable  liberty  to  pluck  him  by  the 
coat-sleeve.  "Captain,  will  you  please — " 

"  What  do  you  want  here  ?  "  thundered  the 
angry  skipper,  kicking  at  the  boy  with  his 
heavy  boot.  But  the  words,  which  came  just 
a  second  or  two  before  the  kick,  served  as  a 
warning  of  what  might  be  expected,  and  when 
the  captain's  boot  got  where  he  had  been,  Roy 
wasn't  there.  He  dodged  out  of  the  way  very 
cleverly,  and  raised  his  voice  in  useless  remon- 
strance. 

"Do  you  know  who  you  are  kicking  at?" 
he  exclaimed.  "  I  am  not  one  of  your  crew  to 
be  driven  about  in  this  fashion.  I  came  aboard 
under  a  misapprehension,  and  want  to  go 
ashore.  My  boat  is  alongside." 

What  the  skipper  would  have  said  or  done 
if  it  had  not  been  for  something  that  happened 
just  then,  I  don't  pretend  to  know.  Beyond  a 
doubt  he  would  have  made  the  free-spoken  Roy 
sup  sorrow  with  a  big  spoon,  if  Tony  and  Bob 
had  not  unwittingly  created  a  diversion  in  his 
favor.  When  they  saw  Roy  standing  so  near 


A   SWIM   IN   ROUGH  WATER.  199 

the  captain  they  took  heart,  and  came  aft  to 
say  a  word  for  themselves,  but  repented  of  it 
when  the  enraged  skipper  undertook  to  drive 
the  boy  forward  with  a  kick.  But  then  it  was 
too  late  for  them  to  escape  punishment  for 
their  assurance  in  venturing  into  the  captain's 
presence  without  being  asked.  One  of  the 
mates  saw  them  when  they  went  aft,  and  made 
it  his  business  to  follow  them  with  a  piece  of 
rope  in  his  hand.  Roy  saw  him  swing  it  in 
the  air  and  knew  what  he  meant  to  do  with  it ; 
but  before  he  had  time  to  shout  a  warning  to 
the  men  for  whose  backs  it  was  intended,  the 
rope  fell  twice  in  quick  succession,  and  with 
such  force  that  Tony  and  Bob  staggered  under 
the  blows. 

"Lay  for'ard,  where  you  belong,  and  come 
on  the  quarter-deck  when  you've  got  business 
here  "  shouted  the  mate.  He  raised  the  rope 
to  give  emphasis  to  his  order,  but  the  two  men 
hurried  out  of  his  reach.  Then  the  mate 
looked  at  Roy. 

"  Give  him  a  dose,  too,  Mr.  Crawford,"  said 
the  captain.  "He's  no  right  to  come  here 
bothering  me  at  this  juncture.  You  might 


200  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

as  well  teach  him  his  place  one  time  as 
another." 

Roy  opened  his  lips  to  protest  against  such 
an  outrage,  but  seeing  the  mate  advancing 
upon  him,  he  turned  and  took  to  his  heels.  In 
half  a  minute  more  he  was  hauling  at  a  rope 
in  company  with  somebody  whom  he  took  to 
be  Tony  ;  but  it  proved  to  be  a  sailor  who  was 
posted  in  regard  to  the  vessel  and  her  contem- 
plated movements. 

11  What  ship  is  this  ?"  whispered  Roy,  try- 
ing hard  to  swallow  a  big  lump  that  seemed  to 
be  rising  in  his  throat. 

"  The  White  Squall,"  was  the  answer. 

"  Is  she  going  to  sea  ? " 

The  sailor  prepared  to  give  a  profane  re- 
sponse to  the  question,  which  was  so  simple 
that  a  blind  boy  ought  to  have  been  able  to 
answer  it  for  himself,  but  when  he  came  to 
look  at  Roy  he  hesitated,  and  choked  back  the 
words  that  arose  to  his  lips. 

"Yes,  she's  bound  out,  and  you  haven't  any 
call  to  go  with  her,  have  you  ? ' '  said  he.  "  It' s 
a  hard  case,  but  I  don't  see  what  you  can  do 
about  it." 


A   SWIM  IN  ROUGH  WATER.  201 

"  Isn't  there  any  law  to  punish  a  captain  for 
taking  men  to  sea  against  their  will  ? "  asked 
Roy. 

"Not  on  the  high  seas,"  was  the  reply. 
"The  only  law  there  is  outside  is  the  cap'n's 
will.  How  come  you  aboard  here  in  the  first 
place?" 

Roy  explained  the  situation  as  briefly  as  he 
could,  whereupon  the  sailor  laughed  incred- 
ulously. 

"That  crew  of  your'n  must  be  into  the 
plot,"  said  he. 

"  What  plot  ? "  inquired  Roy. 

"Why,  isn't  there  somebody  ashore  who 
don't  want  you  there,  and  who  would  be  glad 
to  have  you  carried  so  far  away  that  you  would 
never  get  back  again  ? ' ' 

"Of  course  there  isn't,"  said  Roy,  amazed 
at  the  idea. 

"Then  it's  mighty  strange,"  continued  the 
sailor,  reflectively.  "  The  wind  don't  blow  to 
hurt  anything,  and  that  crew  of  your'n  could 
have  taken  you  to  the  city  if  they  had  been  so 
minded." 

"You're  mistaken  there.     They  dared  not 


202  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

turn  about  for  fear  our  boat  would  be  capsized. 
It  isn't  likely  that  they  would  have  come 
aboard  this  ship  if  they  had  known  that 
they  were  going  to  be  kidnapped,  would 
they?" 

"Aha!"  exclaimed  the  sailor.  "So  they 
have  been  shanghaied  too,  have  they  ?  Then 
I  can't  understand  the  matter  at  all.  No, 
they  wouldn't  have  come  here  if  they  had 
known  that,  for  I  have  heard  that  the  cap'n 
is  one  of  the  worst  brutes  that  any  poor  chap 
ever  sailed  under." 

"Then  why  do  you  sail  with  him?  Were 
you  shanghaied,  too  2  " 

"Oh  no  ;  I  \vas  shipped  all  straight  enough, 
but,  bless  you,  I  never  knew  what  sort  of  a 
craft  I  was  getting  onto  till  it  was  too  late  to 
back  out.  But  I  never  expect  to  reach  Canton 
alive." 

"Canton?"  cried  Roy.  "Is  that  where 
this  ship  is  bound  2 " 

"It's  the  port  the  old  man  intends  to  bring 
up  in  if  he  can  keep  afloat  that  long.  Being 
as  I'm  here,  I'm  going  to  do  an  able  seaman's 
duty  as  long  as  I  am  on  top  of  water.  You 


A   SWIM   IN   ROUGH   WATER.  203 

say  you  came  off  in  a  boat.  Where  is  she 
now?" 

Roy  replied  that  she  was  towing  along- 
side. 

"Well,  look  here,"  said  the  sailor  hastily. 
"  Do  you  see  that  flash  ahead  \  It  comes  from 
the  light-ship.  If  you  know  when  you  are 
well  off,  you  will  jump  into  that  boat  of  your'n 
and  pull  for  that  light  the  best  you  know  how. 
It's  your  only  chance,  for  I  don't  believe  this 
old  tub  will  ever  see  port  again." 

"So  I  can,"  said  Roy  joyfully.  "Will 
you  go  with  me  ?  and  I  can  tip  Tony  and  Bob 
the  wink  and  have  them  go  too  ?  " 

"Not  by  no  means,"  said  the  sailor,  as  if 
the  idea  of  such  a  thing  was  enough  to  frighten 
him.  "  Take  care  of  yourself,  and  let  the  rest 
do  the  same.  Are  you  going  to  try  it?"  he 
added,  when  Roy  let  go  his  hold  upon  the  rope 
and  looked  around  to  see  what  had  become  of 
the  mate.  "  Then  make  a  sure  thing  of  it  the 
first  time  trying.  Don't  allow  yourself  to  be 
brought  back,  for  if  you  do  you'll  wish  you 
had  never  been  born.  You'd  better  sink  right 
here  in  the  harbor  than  trust  yourself  to  this 


204  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

ship  and  her  officers.  It  don't  matter  about 
me,  for  I  am  used  to  hard  knocks." 

The  sailor's  earnest  words  frightened  Roy, 
but  did  not  deter  him  from  carrying  out  the 
bold  plan  he  had  suddenly  formed  in  his  mind. 
Casting  his  eye  around  the  deck  to  make  sure 
that  the  mate  with  the  rope's  end  was  nowhere 
in  sight,  he  moved  swiftly  along  the  weather 
rail,  until  he  thought  he  saw  a  chance  to  dart 
over  to  the  other  side  without  being  seen.  He 
crossed  the  deck  with  a  few  quick  steps  and 
looked  over  into  the  water.  There  was  the 
boat,  still  right  side  up,  and  her  painter  was 
within  easy  reach  of  his  hand.  More  than 
that,  as  if  to  encourage  him  in  his  desperate 
resolve,  the  flash  from  the  light-ship,  now  close 
aboard,  burst  through  the  gloom,  and  showed 
him  everything  as  plainly  as  though  it  had 
been  broad  daylight.  The  dark  waves  with 
their  white  caps  looked  very  threatening,  but 
so  did  the  prospect  he  had  before  him  of 
making  a  long  voyage  under  brutal  officers  and 
in  an  unseaworthy  vessel. 

"It's  now  or  never,"  thought  Roy,  shutting 
his  teeth  hard  and  calling  all  his  courage  to 


A   SWIM   IN   ROUGH   WATER.  205 

his  aid.  '*  In  five  minutes  more  that  lightship 
will  be  so  far  out  of  reach — " 

Just  then  something  took  him  full  in  the 
eye,  and  Roy,  who  had  bent  over  while  work- 
ing at  the  boat's  painter,  straightened  up  with 
a  jerk,  and  flopped  down  upon  his  back. 
Scarcely  realizing  what  had  happened  to  him, 
the  boy  scrambled  to  his  feet  only  to  receive  a 
blow  in  the  other  eye,  and  to  hear  the  mate 
shout  at  him,  in  tones  of  suppressed  fury  : 

"Going  to  desert,  were  you?  I  expected 
it,  and  have  had  my  gaze  fastened  on  you  all 
along.  Take  that  and  that,  and  see  if  it  will 
do  you  until  I  can  get  a  better  chance  at  you." 

Did  the  enraged  officer  intend  to  kill  him 
where  he  lay  ?  Roy  wondered,  as  he  raised  his 
arm  to  ward  off  the  heavy  blows  from  the 
rope's  end  that  were  aimed  at  his  head.  It  is 
quite  possible  that  the  brute  would  have  dis- 
abled him  had  not  the  captain,  who  had  wit- 
nessed the  whole  proceeding,  called  out : 

"Cast  the  boat  adrift,  Mr.  Crawford.  That 
will  put  an  end  to  all  such  nonsense." 

The  officer  turned  to  obey  the  order,  and  in 
an  instant  Roy  was  on  his  feet.  At  the  same 


THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

instant,  too,  the  sailor's  warning  words  came 
into  his  mind  like  an  inspiration:  "Don't 
allow  yourself  to  be  brought  back,  for  if  you 
do  you  will  wish  you  had  never  been  born. 
You'd  better  sink  right  here  in  the  harbor 
than  trust  yourself  to  this  ship  and  her 
officers,"  and  something  the  mate  said  while 
he  was  striking  at  him  with  the  rope's  end 
satisfied  Roy  that  there  was  more  punishment 
of  some  sort  coining  as  soon  as  the  officer  could 
find  time  to  administer  it. 

"  Another  such  a  beating  as  that  would  lay 
me  up  sure,"  thought  Roy,  drawing  his  hand 
across  his  face  and  looking  around  to  see  where 
he  was.  "  I  can't  stand  it  and  I  won't." 

Roy  sprang  away  from  the  rail,  but  quick  as 
the  action  was,  the  movement  the  vigilant 
officer  made  to  defeat  it  was  almost  as  quick. 
His  brawny  hand  shot  out  like  a  flash,  and  by 
the  merest  chance  missed  a  hold  upon  Roy's 
arm.  His  strong  fingers  fastened  into  the 
boy's  shirt-sleeve,  and  during  the  brief  but 
furious  struggle  that  followed  either  the 
stitches  or  cloth  gave  away.  At  any  rate  when 
the  mate  straightened  up  he  was  holding  the 


A   SWIM   IN   ROUGH   WATER.  207 

sleeve  of  Roy's  shirt  in  his  grasp,  and  Roy 
himself,  having  cleared  the  deck  in  two  or 
three  jumps,  was  standing  upon  the  lee  rail. 

"Come  back  here,  you  villain,"  roared  the 
mate,  starting  forward,  "or  I' 11  haze  you  till 
you'll  be  glad  to  go  overboard  in  mid-ocean." 

But  the  boy  preferred  to  go  overboard  in 
the  harbor,  where  he  stood  a  chance — a  bare 
chance — of  rescue.  He  did  not  see  the  pilot- 
boat  that  dashed  by  just  then,  but  he  saw  the 
light-ship  riding  at  her  anchorage  a  short  dis- 
tance away,  and  without  pausing  to  take 
another  look  at  the  angry  waters,  for  fear  that 
the  sight  of  them  would  be  too  much  for  his 
courage,  he  sprang  into  the  air.  The  mate 
reached  the  side  just  a  minute  too  late.  The 
deserter  was  well  out  of  his  way. 

"  That's  the  end  of  him,  sir,"  said  he,  turn- 
ing to  the  captain. 

"Let  the  pilot-boat  take  care  of  him,"  said 
the  latter  gruffly.  "  I  can't  stop  to  bother 
with  him." 

This  was  all  that  was  said  aboard  the  White 
Squall,  and  nothing  whatever  was  done  to  aid 
the  deserter ;  but  the  pilot-boat  officers  had 


208  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

more  humanity.  As  soon  as  their  vessel  could 
be  thrown  up  into  the  wind  a  boat  was  put 
into  the  water,  and  for  half  an  hour  or  more  the 
crew  pulled  about  in  various  directions,  look- 
ing for  Roy,  who  was  swimming  for  the  light- 
ship with  slow  and  easy  strokes.  He  was  by 
all  odds  the  best  swimmer  in  Mount  Airy,  and 
his  skill  and  long  wind  stood  him  well  in  hand 
now.  He  was  badly  frightened  at  first  when 
the  waves  broke  over  his  head  and  bore  him 
under,  but  he  always  came  to  the  surface  in 
time  to  catch  the  next  one,  which  not  only 
carried  him  rapidly  toward  his  haven  of 
refuge,  but  kept  him  afloat  long  enough  to 
get  his  breath  and  fill  his  lungs  for  the  next 
plunge. 

Roy  afterward  said  that  that  long  swim  in 
rough  water  was  more  like  a  dream  than  a  real- 
ity. When  he  found  that  he  had  no  trouble 
in  keeping  on  top  the  water  long  enough  to 
breathe  fully  and  freely,  but  two  ideas  filled  his 
mind.  One  was  to  reach  the  light-ship  before 
his  strength  gave  out ;  the  second  to  lose  no 
time,  after  he  got  ashore,  in  doing  something 
for  Bob  and  Tony  who  were  being  carried  away 


A    SWIM   IN   ROUGH   WATER.  209 

in  that  unseaworthy  ship.  He  was  afterwards 
sorry  that  he  wasted  so  much  sympathy  upon 
them. 

About  the  time  the  pilot-boat's  crew  began 
to  despair  of  picking  up  the  deserter,  and 
filled  away  to  the  city  to  tell  the  story  of 
his  "deliberate  suicide"  to  eager  reporters, 
who  published  it  in  their  papers  the  next 
morning,  and  Roy  was  becoming  weary  of  buf- 
feting the  waves,  the  swim  was  ended  and  help 
speedily  came.  A  friendly  billow  threw  him 
against  one  of  the  swaying  hawsers  that  kept 
the  light- ship  in  place,  and  the  boy  held  fast 
to  it. 

"Boat  ahoy!"  yelled  Roy,  with  all  the 
strength  of  his  lungs. 

An  instant  later  the  sagging  of  the  cable 
soused  him  under;  but  the  wind  caught,  up  his 
voice  and  carried  it  across  the  intervening 
space  to  the  deck  of  the  light-ship,  and  when 
Roy  came  up  again  he  saw  a  couple  of  tar- 
paulins above  her  rail,  and  as  many  lanterns 
hanging  over  the  side. 

"  Where  away  ? "  shouted  a  voice,  that  some- 
what resembled  the  deep  bass  of  a  fog-horn. 

14 


210  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

"Here  I  am;  holding  fast  to  the  anchor 
rope,"  replied  Roy.  "  Can't  you  see  me 
now?" 

The  boy's  hand  instinctively  Avent  to  his 
head ;  but  the  cap  he  intended  to  wave  in  the 
air  to  show  the  light-ship's  men  where  he  was, 
had  been  left  aboard  the  White  Squall  to  keep 
company  with  his  shirt-sleeve.  But  if  the 
men  couldn't  see  him  they  heard  his  words, 
for  the  wind  brought  them  plainly  to  their 
ears  ;  and  instead  of  stopping  to  ask  him  what 
he  was  doing  in  the  water  and  how  he  got 
there  in  the  first  place,  they  pulled  up  their 
lanterns  and  hurried  away. 

"Hurrah  for  mel"  said  Roy  to  himself. 
"They've  gone  to  lower  a  boat  and  I  am  all 
right—" 

Just  then  another  wave  broke  over  his  head ; 
but  when  he  came  up  again,  Roy  continued 
his  soliloquy  as  if  nothing  had  happened. 

"Or  shall  be  in  a  few  minutes,"  said  he. 
"I've  learned  a  good  many  things  to-night, 
and  one  of  them  is,  that  a  wind  that  would 
keep  our  Mount  Airy  people  ashore  don't 
bother  these  deep-water  fellows  at  all.  I  call 


A   SWIM   IN   ROUGH    WATER.  211 

this  a  gale  ;  but  these  watermen,  who  are  used 
to  such  things,  run  around  in  small  boats  as 
fearlessly  as  we  take  to  Mirror  Lake  when 
there  isn't  a  capful  of  wind  to  ruffle  the  sur- 
face." 

Roy  was  plunged  under  a  good  many  times 
while  he  waited  for  the  men  to  come  and  take 
him  off,  but  presently  their  boat  hove  in  sight. 
She  looked  too  large  and  heavy  for  two  men  to 
row,  but  she  was  built  for  just  the  work  she 
was  doing  now,  and  Roy  Sheldon  was  not  the 
only  one  who  owed  his  life  to  her  and  the  gal- 
lant fellows  who  manned  her.  She  came  over 
the  waves  like  a  duck,  and  almost  before  Roy 
knew  it  he  was  sitting  in  her  stern-sheets  with 
a  heavy  coat  around  him.  The  men  uttered 
exclamations  of  astonishment  when  they  saw 
how  he  was  dressed,  but  not  a  question  did 
they  ask  until  they  had  taken  him  safe  aboard 
the  light-ship  and  into  a  warm,  well-lighted 
cabin. 

"Pull  off  them  wet  duds  and  put  on  these 
here,"  said  one  of  the  men,  laying  some  dry 
clothing  on  a  chair  near  the  stove. 

"  I    am    sorry    to    occasion  you  so    much 


212  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

trouble,"  began  Roy,  who  saw  that  the  oil- 
skin suits  his  rescuers  wore  were  dripping  with 
spray.  "  I  have  given  you  a  long,  hard  pull." 

"Oh,  that's  nothing,"  was  the  reply. 
"We're  used  to  picking  up  folks,  specially 
during  the  racing  season  when  a  yacht  turns 
bottom  side  up  now  and  then.  But  what  made 
you  get  sick  of  your  bargain  so  soon  ?  Why 
didn't  you  let  yourself  go  down,  like  you'd 
oughter?" 

"  What  bargain  ?"  exclaimed  Roy.  "And 
why  ought  I  to  let  myself  go  down  ? " 

"Why,  you  jumped  off  that  there  ship  on 
purpose,  'cause  me  and  my  pardner  seen  you 
when  you  done  it.  We've  been  kinder  look- 
ing for  you  ever  since.  'We  didn't  go  out  after 
you,  'cause  number  29' s  boat  struck  the  water 
most  as  soon  as  you  did." 

"  Who  bunged  your  eyes  for  you?"  asked 
the  man  who  had  not  spoken  before,  and  who 
was  getting  ready  to  give  Roy  a  pot  of  hot 
coffee. 

"  Are  they  black? "  said  the  boy  angrily. 

He  glanced  around  the  cabin,  and  seeing  a 
small  mirror  fastened  against  the  bulkhead  on 


A   SWIM   IN   ROUGH    WATER.  213 

the  other  side,  he  walked  over  and  looked  into 
it.  Yes,  his  eyes  were  black. 

' '  The  ship  I  deserted  from  was  the  White 
Squall,"  said  Roy ;  whereupon  the  lightship 
men  nodded,  as  much  as  to  say  that  the  whole 
matter  had  been  made  clear  to  them.  "I 
didn't  belong  to  her.  I  was — what  do  you  call 
it  ? — shanghaied  ?  Yes  ;  that  was  what  was 
done  to  me,  and  also  to  the  two  men  who 
started  to  row  me  from  Shelly' s  Island  to  New 
London.  One  of  the  sailors  told  me  I  had 
better  get  off  if  I  could  see  half  a  chance, 
and  that  was  the  way  I  came  to  be  in  the 
water.  One  of  the  mates  knocked  me  down 
twice  while  I  was  working  at  the  painter  of 
our  boat,  and  pounded  me  with  a  piece  of  rope 
till — well,  look  at  that,"  added  Roy,  who, 
when  he  came  to  pull  off  his  wet  shirt,  found 
that  he  could  not  do  it  without  assistance. 
His  arm  pained  him,  and  he  could  not  use  it 
as  readily  as  usual.  This  led  him  to  make  an 
examination,  and  he  found  that  the  arm  was 
bruised  and  discolored  from  shoulder  to 
elbow. 

"Yas,"  remarked  one  of  the  men,  as  if  he 


214  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

were  speaking  of  an  every-day  occurrence, 
"I've  seen  a  good  many  such  whacks  in  my 
time." 

"Do  all  officers  pound  their  men  in  this 
fashion,  and  do  you  fellows  submit  to  it?" 
cried  Roy,  in  great  surprise.  "  Well,  I  won't, 
I  bet  you.  I'll  have  those  two  men  arrested  ; 
the  captain  for  kidnapping  me,  and  the  mate 
for  using  me  up  in  this  way." 

"Drink  this  coffee  and  tell  us  when 
you're  going  to  do  all  that,"  said  one  of 
the  men. 

"Yas,"  said  the  other.  "And  while  I  am 
helping  you  rub  them  bruises  with  this  arnica, 
tell  us  how  you're  going  to  do  it." 

"When  and  how?"  repeated  Roy,  as  he 
submitted  to  the  old  sea-dog's  rough  but 
kindly  administrations. 

"Yas.  You  can't  get  ashore  before  morn- 
ing, and  by  that  time  the  White  Squall  will  be 
miles  and  miles  at  sea.  It'll  be  two  years, 
mebbe  three,  before  she  makes  this  port  again, 
and  like  as  not  there  won't  be  a  single  man  in 
her  crew  that  she  took  away  with  her.  Then 
where' 11  your  witnesses  be  to  prove  that  you 


A   SWIM   IN   ROUGH   WATER.  215 

was  shanghaied,  and  that  the  mate  knocked 
you  down  and  beat  you.  with  a  rope's  end  ? " 

Roy  backed  toward  the  nearest  bunk,  sat 
down  upon  it  and  took  a  long  and  hearty  drink 
of  the  hot  coffee  before  he  made  any  reply. 
He  had  comforted  himself  with  the  mental 
assurance  that  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  for 
him  to  bring  the  master  of  the  White  Squall 
to  justice,  but  now  he  discovered  that  there 
were  difficulties  in  the  way. 

"  Law  ain't  made  for  the  poor  chaps  that 
sail  the  high  seas,  but  for  landsmen,"  said  the 
one  who  gave  him  the  coffee.  "  Sailor-men 
ain't  got  no  use  for  it,  for  nobody  cares  for 
them.  I've  heard  enough  about  that  ship  and 
her  cap'n  to  know  that  I  shouldn't  like  to  sail 
on  her,  and  I  tell  you  that  you  was  mighty 
lucky  to  get  away  with  a  whole  skin.  The 
mate  knocked  you  over  while  you  was  trying 
to  cast  off  your  boat ;  then  what  happened  ? " 

"I  made  a  dash  for  the  other  side  of  the  ship 
and  went  overboard,"  answered  Roy.  "The 
mate  made  a  grab  for  me,  and  besides  tearing 
the  sleeve  out  of  my  shirt  he  must  have  given 
my  arm  an  awful  wrench,  for  I  can  hardly  lift 


216  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

that  pot  of  coffee  with  it.  There  isn't  any 
danger  that  she  will  stop  and  take  me  off  this 
boat,  is  there?  " 

The  lightship  men  chuckled  and  winked  at 
each  other  as  though  they  thought  Roy  had 
said  something  amusing. 

" Bless  your  simple  heart !  She's  hull  down 
before  this  time,"  one  of  them  remarked. 
"You  don't  think  that  a  ship  that  has  been 
loaded  and  waiting  for  two  or  three  weeks 
would  stop  to  pick  up  a  deserter,  do  you  ?  and 
him  a  landsman  that  don' t  know  one  side  of 
the  deck  from  t'other?  You'll  never  see  the 
White  Squall  again  less'n  you  stay  here  and 
look  for  her.  What  sort  of  clothes  is  them, 
any  way,  that  you  just  took  off?  Looks  some- 
thing like  a  rowing  rig,  but  'tain't." 

Roy  replied  that  it  was  a  bicycle  uniform, 
and  then  went  on  to  tell  his  story,  hoping  that 
the  mention  of  Rowe  Shelly' s  name  might  lead 
the  men  to  give  him  some  information  concern- 
ing the  runaway.  They  lived  but  a  short  dis- 
tance from  his  island  home,  and  Roy  thought 
it  possible  they  might  know  him  ;  but  he  very 
soon  became  satisfied  that  they  didn't.  They 


A   SWIM  IX   ROUGH   WATER.  217 

held  little  communication  with  the  people  on 
the  neighboring  islands,  all  their  supplies,  as 
well  as  the  limited  number  of  papers  they 
read,  being  received  from  the  mainland,  and 
they  did  not  act  as  though  they  had  ever 
heard  of  Howe  Shelly  before  ;  but  they  showed 
Roy  very  plainly  that  there  were  some  portions 
of  his  narrative  they  found  it  hard  to  believe, 
One  of  them  turned  on  his  heel  with  the 
remark  that  the  wind  didn't  "blow  to  do  any 
hurt,"  that  there  was  no  need  of  anybody 
"going  aboard  a  ship  for  shelter  on  such  a 
night"  as  that  one  was,  and  went  on  deck  to 
see  how  things  were  going  there ;  while  the 
other,  with  the  suspicion  of  a  smile  about  his 
mouth,  said  to  Roy  : 

"You're  getting  kinder  white  around  the 
gills.  Hadn't  you  better  lay  down  in  that 
there  bunk  before  it  gets  worse  on  you? 
That's  my  advice." 

"  I  do  feel  rather  queer,  that's  a  fact," 
answered  the  boy.  "I  suppose  the  pounding 
and  swim  together  were  too  much  for  me." 

"Yas;  I  reckon  they  were.  But  you'll  be 
all  right  after  a  while." 


218  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

The  man  followed  his  companion  to  the 
deck,  and  Roy  lay  down  upon  the  bunk  ;  but 
very  gradually  a  suspicion  crept  into  his  mind 
that  the  beating  he  had  received  and  his  long 
swim  in  rough  water  had  little  to  do  with  his 
miserable  feelings. 

"I  am  seasick,"  groaned  Roy.  "That's 
what's  the  matter  with  me.  Being  shut  up  in 
this  warm,  close  cabin  has  done  the  business 
for  me." 

The  boy  made  a  shrewd  guess.  Many  along 
hour  dragged  its  weary  length  away  before  he 
was  "  all  right "  again. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   BOY   WHO   WOULDN'T  BE    "  PUMPED." 

ALL  the  rest  of  the  night  Roy  Sheldon, 
who  was  ill  indeed,  rolled  and  tossed  in 
his  bunk  without  once  closing  his  eyes  in 
sleep.  At  first  he  was  very  much  afraid  that 
the  light-ship  would  go  down,  she  pitched  so 
furiously  ;  and  as  his  malady  grew  upon  him, 
he  wished  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart  that 
she  would  spring  a  leak  and  sink,  and  so  put 
him  out  of  his  misery.  To  make  matters  worse, 
his  rescuers  never  came  near  to  sympathize 
with  him,  or  ask  if  there  was  anything  they 
could  do  to  relieve  him.  They  left  him  to  fight 
the  battle  alone,  and  their  neglect  made  Roy 
so  indignant  that  he  resolved  he  would  not 
speak  to  them  again,  not  even  to  thank  them 
for  the  important  service  they  had  rendered 
him.  Shortly  after  daylight,  however,  he  fell 
into  a  refreshing  slumber,  and  when  he  awoke 

219 


220  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

two  hours  later  his  sickness  was  all  gone,  and 
he  was  as  hungry  as  a  wolf. 

"  Well,  my  hearty,"  was  the  cordial  way  in 
which  he  was  greeted  when  he  rolled  out  of  his 
bunk,  "you  don't  look  quite  as  blue  about 
the  gills  as  you  did  when  you  turned  in.  Feel 
any  better  ?  Set  down  and  take  another  pot  of 
coffee." 

"Thank  you.  I  feel  a  good  deal  more  like 
myself,"  was  Roy's  reply.  "  I  can't  begin  to 
tell  you  how  grateful  I  am  to  you,  or  how  glad 
I  am  that  I  went  overboard  when  I  did,  and 
that  I  succeeded  in  laying  hold  of  that  anchor- 
rope  before  my  wind  and  strength  gave  out.  I 
was  getting  tired,  I  tell  you.  If  I  were  aboard 
that  ship  now  how  far  at  sea  would  I  be  ? " 

"  A  hundred  miles,  or  such  a  matter,  in  this 
wind,  and  with  a  fair  chance  of  seeing  furrin 
countries  before  you  come  back." 

"  I  would  have  stood  a  better  chance  of  be- 
coming food  for  the  sharks,  if  all  I  heard 
about  her  is  true,"  said  Roy,  as  he  seated  him- 
self at  one  end  of  the  mess -chest  which  served 
as  a  table.  "The  sailor  who  advised  me  to 
desert  said  he  never  expected  to  reach  Canton 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  221 

alive.  Now,  how  soon  can  I  get  ashore  to  re- 
lieve tlie  anxiety  of  my  friends  ?  " 

That  was  a  matter  that  was  settled  with  half 
a  dozen  words.  He  was  given  to  understand 
that  he  would  be  carried  over  to  the  nearest 
pier  as  soon  as  he  had  eaten  his  breakfast ; 
and  his  mind  being  set  at  rest,  he  ate  a  hearty 
one.  When  he  thanked  the  men  for  their 
kindness  they  laughed  and  said  "  that  was  all 
right,"  and  showed  some  curiosity  to  know 
why  Roy  was  so  careful  to  take  their  names 
and  address. 

"  I  like  to  keep  track  of  my  acquaintances," 
said  the  boy  ;  I  may  want  to  call  upon  you  at 
some  future  time,  and  if  I  do,  I  shall  know 
where  to  find  you." 

Breakfast  being  over,  Roy,  who  had  put  on 
his  own  clothes  when  he  left  his  bunk,  climbed 
into  the  boat  and  was  palled  ashore.  There 
was  a  hack-stand  near  the  pier  on  which  he 
was  landed,  and  although  Roy  did  not  know  it 
at  the  time,  Tony  and  Bob  could  have  put  him 
ashore  there  the  night  before  if  the  instructions 
they  received  from  Colonel  Shelly' s  superinten- 
dent had  not  led  them  to  follow  a  different 


222  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

course.  Being  anxious  to  escape  observation 
Roy  took  a  hurried  leave  of  the  light-ship's 
men,  hastened  toward  the  hack-stand,  and  dived 
into  the  h'rst  carriage  he  came  to. 

"Pull  up  the  windows,  put  down  the  cur- 
tains so  that  no  one  can  see  me,  and  go  for  the 
Lafayette  House  at  your  very  best  licks,"  said 
Roy  to  the  astonished  driver,  who  looked  criti- 
cally at  the  boy's  sleeveless  shirt  and  bandaged 
eye,  and  seemed  in  no  particular  hurry  to 
obey. 

"Been  in  a  fight  ? "  said  he. 

"Yes;  been  in  half  a  dozen.  Whipped 
more  than  forty  men,  and  swam  in  from  a  hun- 
dred miles  out  at  sea,"  replied  Roy,  impatient- 
ly. "I've  money  in  my  pocket  and  more 
at  the  hotel,  if  that  is  what  you  want  to 
know.  Hurry  up,  and  I  will  give  you  double 
fare." 

That  was  something  the  hackman  could  un- 
derstand. Looking  curiously  at  his  passenger 
the  while  he  hastened  to  obey  his  orders,  and 
in  a  few  seconds  had  made  the  carriage  as  close 
as  an  oven.  But  Roy  did  not  care  for  that. 
He  settled  back  in  the  corner,  and  wondered 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  223 

what  Arthur  and  Joe  would  say  when  he 
walked  into  their  presence. 

"I  know  I  am  a  nice  looking  object,"  was 
his  mental  reflection,  "  but  I  should  like  to  see 
either  one  of  those  fellows  go  through  what  I 
did  and  come  out  in  better  shape.  I  tell  you 
I  have  had  a  narrow  escape,  and  Howe  Shelly, 
whoever  he  may  be,  can  thank  his  lucky  stars 
that  he  was  not  in  my  place.  I  can't  do  any- 
thing for  Bob  and  Tony,  but  I  can  bear  those 
light-ship  men  in  mind,  and  I  will  too." 

With  the  prospect  of  a  double  fare  before 
him  the  hackman  drove  as  rapidly  as  he  dared, 
and  when  he  drew  rein  in  front  of  the  hotel  to 
which  he  had  been  directed,  Eoy  threw  open 
the  door  and  jumped  out,  crossed  the  wide 
sidewalk  with  a  few  swift  steps,  and  sought 
concealment  behind  one  of  the  front  doors, 
every  move  he  made  being  closely  followed  by 
the  driver,  who  wanted  to  make  sure  of  his 
money  before  he  let  his  strange  passenger  out 
of  sight.  Then  came  that  hurried  interview 
with  the  hotel  clerk,  who  could  hardly  be 
made  to  believe  that  Roy  Sheldon  was  not 
Robert  Barton,  after  which  the  new-comer 


224  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

went  to  his  room  to  change  his  clothes  and 
send  the  porter  out  for  a  new  helmet  to  take 
the  place  of  the  one  he  had  left  on  board  the 
White  Squall. 

"There,"  said  Roy,  as  he  stood  before  the 
mirror  and  tied  a  clean  handkerchief  over  his 
left  eye,  "  that  looks  a  little  more  respectable, 
but  not  much.  I  must  have  a  pretty  hard 
head  or  that  mate  would  have  knocked  me 
senseless.  Suppose  he  had,  and  that  I  had 
been  kicked  out  of  the  way  or  carried  down 
into  the  forecastle,  and  never  come  to  myself 
until  this  morning  !  I'd  been  a  hundred  miles 
or  more  at  sea,  and  in  a  rotten  old  ship  that  is 
liable  to  go  to  pieces  in  the  very  first  storm 
she  encounters.  It  makes  me  shudder  to 
think  of  it." 

Having  fixed  himself  up  as  well  as  he  could, 
Roy  went  downstairs  and  into  the  reading- 
room  to  wait  for  Joe  and  Arthur  to  "show 
up."  At  the  same  time  a  sharp-looking  gen- 
tleman, whose  eyes  were  everywhere  at  once, 
walked  briskly  up  to  the  clerk's  desk  and 
leaned  upon  it. 

"What  do  you  know  ? "  said  he.     "I  must 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  225 

make  out  a  column  some  way  or  other,  and  if 
you  don't  help  me  out,  I  shall  always  think 
you  ought  to." 

"I  don't  know  a  thing,"  roplied  the  clerk. 
"Go  into  the  reading-room  and  pump  that  fel- 
low with  the  bunged-up  eye.  He's  a  wheelman 
from  Mount  Airy.  Came  in  yesterday  with 
two  others,  and  got  into  trouble  before  he  had 
fairly  eaten  his  supper.  That's  his  name  right 
there,"  added  the  clerk,  as  the  sharp-looking 
man,  who  was  a  newspaper  reporter,  pulled  a 
note-book  from  his  pocket  and  wrote  some- 
thing in  it  in  short-hand.  "  He  just  as  good  as 
told  me  that  he  was  mistaken  for  Howe  Shelly, 
kidnapped  and  taken  over  to  the  island,  and 
barely  escaped  being  carried  to  sea." 

"On  what  vessel ? "  exclaimed  the  reporter, 
showing  some  excitement  and  no  little  in- 
terest. 

"Don't  know.  Didn't  think  to  ask  him, 
for  he  was  in  a  great  hurry  to  go  to  his  room." 

"  So  Kovve  Shelly  has  skipped  again,  has 
he?"  said  the  reporter.  "That  won't  do  me 
any  good,  for  Shelly  owns  some  of  our  stock 
and  we  can't  dip  into  his  private  affairs. 

15 


226  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

Don't  tell  anybody  else  of  it,  there's  a  good, 
fellow,  for  I  want  to  get  a  scoop  on  this  whole 
business.  Did  this  what's  his  name — Sheldon, 
look  as  though  he  had  been  in  the  water  \ " 

"  Come  to  think  of  it,  he  did.  His  uniform 
was  shrunk  and  mussed,  one  sleeve  of  his  shirt 
was  missing,  and  both  his  eyes  were  blacked. 
At  least  one  was,  for  I  saw  it.  He  kept  the 
other  covered  up." 

"I'll  bet  it's  the  same  chap.  Haven't  you 
seen  this  morning's  Tribune?  Well,  there's 
an  article  in  it,  with  the  blackest  kind  of  head- 
lines, entitled,  '  Mutiny  in  the  Harbor.  A 
Sailor  prefers  Death  to  a  Voyage  in  the  White 
Squall,'  and  so  forth  and  so  on,  etcetera.  One 
of  our  fellows  wrote  that  up,  and  now  you 
just  watch  me  get  the  sequel.  Hoop-la !  My 
column's  safe.  How' 11  I  know  him — by  his 
bunged-up  eyes  ? " 

"  Look  right  through  the  door.  That's  him, 
with  the  blue  uniform  on  and  a  paper  in  his 
hand.  But  hold  on  a  minute,"  said  the  clerk, 
as  the  reporter  turned  away.  "If  you  mean 
to  get  anything  out  of  him  you'll  have  to  be 
sly  about  it,  for  he  says  he  won't  be  pumped." 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  227 

"Oh,  won' t  he ?    We'  11  see  about  that. ' ' 

Boy  Sheldon,  who  was  deeply  interested  in 
that  article  in  the  Tribune,  and  congratulating 
himself  on  the  fact  that  his  name  was  not  men- 
tioned in  it,  and  that  consequently  his  father 
and  mother  would  never  hear  of  his  adventure 
until  he  was  ready  to  tell  them  about  it,  did 
not  so  much  as  raise  his  eyes  when  the  reporter 
came  in  and  sat  down  near  him.  He  went  on 
with  his  reading  until  he  heard  a  pleasant 
voice  say : 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Sheldon.  You  have 
had  a  pretty  rough  experience,  have  you  not  ? " 

If  the  chair  in  which  he  was  sitting  had 
suddenly  given  away  and  let  him  down  on  the 
floor,  Roy  would  not  have  been  half  as  much 
astonished  as  he  was  when  he  heard  himself 
addressed  in  this  way  by  a  man  whom  he  had 
never  seen  before.  He  looked  at  him  over 
the  top  of  his  paper,  and  then  drew  his  head 
down  behind  it ;  whereupon  the  reporter  pulled 
out  his  handkerchief  and  mopped  his  face  to 
conceal  the  smile  that  came  to  his  lips. 

"  Of  course  you  don't  mind  what  those  light- 
ship men  said  to  me"  he  continued. 


223  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"Oh!  did  they  tell  you  about  it?"  ex- 
claimed Roy,  and  that  was  all  the  reporter 
wanted  to  show  him  that  he  was  on  the  right 
track.  Being  shrewd  and  experienced  in  his 
profession,  he  had  already  made  up  his  mind 
just  what  that  'sequel'  was  going  to  be.  The 
sailor,  who  was  seen  by  the  captain  of  pilot-boat 
number  twenty-nine  to  jump  into  the  harbor, 
was  not  a  seafaring  man,  but  a  wheelman.  He 
had  succeeded  in  reaching  the  light-ship,  whose 
crew  rescued  him,  brought  him  ashore  in  the 
morning,  and  here  he  was.  Roy  had  told  the 
clerk  he  would  not  be  interviewed ;  but  that 
did  not  worry  the  reporter. 

"  Yes  ;  I  have  heard  all  about  it,"  said  he. 
"You  see,  I  am  the  fellow  who  supplies  those 
light-ship  men  with  some  of  their  reading- 
matter." 

"Oh,"  said  Roy  again,  "  I  was  afraid  you 
might  be  a  reporter." 

"My  dear  sir,  do  I  look  as  if  I  were  that 
low  down  in  the  world?  What's  the  reason 
you  don't  want  to  see  any  news-gatherers? 
You  have  been  the  hero  of  an  adventure,  and 
most  boys  would  like  to  see  it  in  print." 


WOULDN'T  BE  "  PUMPED."  229 

"It's  in  print  already,  but  fortunately  the 
man  who  wrote  about  it  did  not  know  my 
name,"  replied  Roy.  "  There's  a  long  account 
of  it  in  the  Tribune?" 

"  And  is  that  account  correct  ?  " 

''Perfectly.  But  my  father  takes  the  Tri- 
bune, and  if  he  had  seen  my  name  in  that 
article  he  would  have  ordered  me  home  in 
short  order." 

"And  you  don't  want  to  go,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"Certainly  not,"  answered  Roy,  who  then 
went  on  to  tell  where  he  did  want  to  go  ;  and 
to  prove  that  his  father  would  be  likely  to  tell 
him  to  come  home  if  he  got  into  trouble,  he 
related  what  Mr.  Wayring  had  done  when  he 
learned  through  the  New  London  papers  that 
Matt  Coyle  had  tied  Joe  to  a  tree  and  threat- 
ened to  beat  him  with  switches. 

"I  remember  of  reading  about  that,"  said 
the  reporter.  "  One  of  the  Tribune1 s  staff  was 
stopping  at  the  Sportsman's  Home  at  the  time, 
and  he  was  the  one  who  wrote  it  up.  I  don't 
blame  you  for  not  wanting  your  name  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  that  little  episode 
in  the  harbor  last  night,  and  you  are  wise  in 


230  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

keeping  your  weather  eye  open  for  reporters. 
That's  the  only  one  you  can  keep  open,  isn't 
it  ?  Who  shut  up  the  other  one  for  you  ? " 

It  was  by  such  ingenious  and  apparently 
disinterested  questions  as  these,  that  the  re- 
porter gradually  led  Roy  Sheldon  on  to  tell 
his  story  from  beginning  to  end.  He  was 
really  astonished  when  the  boy  brought  his 
narrative  to  a  close,  and  told  himself  that  he 
was  master  of  some  secrets  that  would  eventu- 
ally bring  Colonel  Shell}?-  and  his  superintend- 
ent into  trouble,  and  the  runaway  Rx>we  into 
his  rights.  More  than  one  reporter  has  run  to 
earth  criminals  whom  the  best  detectives  could 
not  track,  and  Roy's  visitor  suddenly  resolved 
that  he  would  do  a  little  in  that  line  himself. 
He  would  have  given  something  handsome  to 
know  where  Rowe  was  at  that  minute  and 
what  he  intended  to  do ;  but  Roy  could  not 
enlighten  him.  On  the  other  hand,  he  asked 
the  reporter  to  tell  him  what  he  knew  about 
Rowe  himself. 

"That  boy  is  well  fixed  over  there  on  the 
island,"  said  he.  "Everybody  is  kind  to  him, 
he  has  everything  money  can  buy,  and  he 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  231 

wouldn't  run  away  unless  there  was  good 
cause  for  for  it,"  said  Roy.  I  wasn't  on  the 
island  long  enough  to  learn  much  about  him  ; 
can't  you  tell  me  something? " 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  can't,"  said  the  reporter, 
as  he  arose  from  his  chair.  ' '  I  have  never  been 
on  the  island,  and  don't  know  the  first  thing 
about  Howe  Shelly  and  his  family  relations,  ex- 
cept what  I  have  heard  in  a  roundabout  way. 
Look  here,"  he  added,  sinking  his  voice  al- 
most to  a  whisper;  "do  you  see  those  three 
fellows  talking  with  the  clerk  ?  Look  out  for 
them.  They  are  reporters  for  evening  papers. 
Tell  'em  you're  busy — that  your  eyes  are  so 
black  you  can't  talk  to  'em — tell  'em  anything 
you  can  think  of,  for  if  you  don't,  they  will 
have  you  in  print  sure  pop.  So-long,  and  a 
pleasant  trip  if  I  don't  see  you  again  before 
you  leave  the  city." 

So  saying  the  reporter  winked  at  Roy,  and 
hurried  away  to  write  up  the  "  sequel "  for  the 
evening  edition  of  his  paper,  while  Roy  hid 
behind  his  copy  of  the  Tribune.  The  three 
men  against  whom  he  had  been  warned  came 
in  at  last,  but  if  they  wanted  information  they 


232  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

did  not  get  much.  Roy  was  very  unsociable, 
and  they  finally  departed  with  the  conviction 
that  the  Tribune1  s  man  had  been  too  sharp  for 
them  this  time. 

Roy's  next  visitor  was  Willis,  and  the  next 
two  were  Joe  Wayring  and  Arthur  Hastings, 
who  would  scarcely  have  recognized  him  if  it 
had  not  been  for  his  uniform.  They  listened 
in  great  amazement  to  his  story,  which  I  after- 
ward heard  just  as  I  have  tried  to  tell  it,  and 
never  once  said  a  word  to  interrupt  him. 
Arthur's  indignation  was  almost  unbounded  ; 
while  the  clear-sighted  Joe  saw  two  or  three 
things  in  the  narrative  which  proved  to  his 
satisfaction  that  Roy's  visit  to  the  White 
Squall  was  not  purely  accidental.  But  the 
trouble  was,  Roy  himself  did  not  think  so,  and 
he  had  not  really  said  anything  that  was 
calculated  to  throw  suspicion  upon  the  super- 
intendent. It  was  plain,  however,  that  Willis 
was  afraid  he  might  say  something,  for  as  soon 
as  Roy's  story  was  finished  he  got  upon  his 
feet  and  put  on  his  hat. 

"As  you  remarked  a  little  while  ago,  'all's 
well  that  ends  well,'"  said  he.  "I  am 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  233 

heartily  glad  you  got  safely  out  of  that  scrape, 
Mr.  Sheldon,  and  hope  you  will  speedily 
recover  from  the  effects  of  your  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  that  brutal  mate.  I  wish  he  might 
be  punished  for  it ;  but  it  is  just  as  those  men 
on  the  lightship  told  you.  The  White  Squall 
will  not  return  for  two  or  three  years,  and  by 
that  time  the  men  who  now  comprise  her  crew 
may  be  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the  globe.  I 
wish  you  good-morning,  and  a  pleasant  run 
across  the  State." 

So  saying,  Willis  bowed  himself  out  of  the 
reading-room,  and  Babcock  went  with  him, 
leaving  the  three  friends  alone. 

"  Say,  old  fellow,"  exclaimed  Joe,  settling 
back  in  his  chair  and  looking  at  Roy,  "  you've 
more  pluck  than  I  ever  gave  you  credit  for, 
but  not  half  as  much  mother- wit." 

"What  has  gone  wrong  with  you  now?" 
asked  Roy,  in  reply. 

"Nothing  whatever;  but  if  you  don't  find 
that  something  has  gone  wrong  with  you,  I 
shall  miss  my  guess.  And  you  are  the  boy 
who  wouldn't  be  pumped,  are  you?  Well, 
you  are  a  good  one." 


234  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

"  I  tell  you  I  didn't  give  those  three  reporters 
the  first  grain  of  information,"  said  Roy, 
bridling  up. 

"  No  ;  but  you  gave  the  first  one  who  gained 
your  ear  all  the  information  he  wanted.  That 
fellow  who  came  his  Oily  Gammon  over  you 
and  told  you  that  he  supplied  the  lightship's 
crew  with  a  portion  of  their  reading  matter, 
was  a  reporter.  He'  11  have  the  whole  thing  in  his 
paper  to  night,  and  you  will  have  to  go  home." 

4 'And  that  means  all  of  us,"  added  Arthur. 

"  'No !  "  gasped  Roy,  alarmed  by  the  thought. 
"  Let's  get  away  from  the  city  without  an 
hour's  delay.  If  we  do  that,  we  can  prolong 
our  run  as  far  as  Bloomingdale  ;  for  you  know 
that  was  the  first  place  at  which  we  were  to 
stop  for  letters." 

"  But  you  can't  ride,"  said  Joe. 

"What's  the  reason  I  can't?"  inquired  Roy. 
"  I  know  my  arm  is  almost  useless,  but  my 
legs  are  all  right,  as  I  will  show  you  when  we 
are  fairly  on  the  road  again.  Say,  fellows, 
let's  make  the  pace  hot  enough  to  reach  Bloom- 
ingdale and  get  beyond  it  before  any  return 
orders  can  catch  us." 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  235 

."Why  not  avoid  the  place  altogether?" 
suggested  Arthur.  "Have  you  had  your  arm 
examined  by  a  surgeon  ?  " 

Roy  said  he  hadn't  thought  of  it,  and  Arthur 
continued:  "Then  we'll  have  it  done  at  once. 
If  he  says  you  can  ride,  we'll  take  to  the 
road  at  once.  If  he  says  you  can't,  that 
settles  it." 

Great  was  their  relief  when  the  medical  man, 
to  whom  they  were  directed,  told  Roy  that, 
although  he  had  received  a  pretty  severe  fall 
(he  thought  Roy  had  taken  a  header  and  the 
latter  was  quite  willing  to  have  it  so),  he  would 
be  able  to  continue  the  run  provided  he  could 
manage  his  wheel  with  one  hand,  and  would 
promise  not  to  run  too  fast. 

"  But/'  added  the  doctor,  "  it's  a  little  the 
queerest  hurt  I  ever  saw  from  a  header.  I 
don't  quite  see  how  you  managed  to  black 
both  your  eyes  and  injure  your  arm  in  one  fall. 
If  you  had  been  in  a  fight  with  the  canalers  I 
could  understand  it.  You  mustn't  think  of 
going  on  for  at  least  two  or  three  days.  Lie 
still  to-morrow  and  next  day,  take  a  short  run 
on  Saturday,  stop  over  somewhere  in  the 


236  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

country  on  Sunday,  and  make  a  fresh  start  on 
Monday." 

When  the  boys  heard  this  their  countenances 
fell;  but,  as  Arthur  had  said,  "that  settled 
it."  All  they  could  do  was  to  make  them- 
selves miserable  for  the  rest  of  the  day  and  the 
whole  of  the  two  succeeding  ones.  They  could 
not  even  visit  their  friends  in  the  city,  for  if 
they  did,  every  one  would  want  to  know  where 
Roy  Sheldon  was,  and  why  he  didn't  show 
himself. 

"  I'm  a  pretty  looking  fellow  to  go  calling, 
am  I  not?"  said  the  latter  dolefully.  "It 
can't  be  done,  boys.  I'd  have  to  tell  the  truth, 
and  I  might  as  well  go  home  at  once  as  to  do 
that.  I'm  going  to  hug  my  room  the  best  I 
know  how,  and  you'll  have  to  see  that  I  don't 
starve  ;  for  now  that  I  have  found  you,  I  am 
not  going  to  exhibit  myself  in  that  reading- 
room  again.  Now,  come  up-stairs  and  tell  me 
all  you  know  about  Howe  Shelly." 

The  story  his  friends  had  to  tell  was  not  near 
as  long  as  his  own,  but  it  was  fully  as  in- 
teresting. It  required  but  a  few  words  from 
them  to  make  everything  clear  to  Roy's  com- 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  237 

prehension.  The  man  who  claimed  to  be 
Colonel  Shelly  and  Howe's  guardian  was  a 
fraud,  the  boy's  parents  were  still  living,  and 
he  was  determined  to  find  them  in  spite  of  all 
the  obstacles  that  could  be  thrown  in  his  way. 
That  was  all  there  was  of  it. 

"  I  hope  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  that 
he  will  succeed,"  said  Roy  earnestly.  "  When 
I  was  in  the  water  swimming  for  the  lightship, 
I  felt  bitter  toward  everybody  ;  but  now  that 
I  have  come  safely  out  of  the  worst  scrape  I 
ever  was  in,  I  don't  feel  so.  The  clerk,  who 
evidently  knows  a  little  about  Rowe  and  his 
affairs,  declared  that  he  was  a  fool  for  running 
away,  but  somehow  I  couldn't  believe  it.  Now 
I  know  he  isn't.  If  one  of  us  was  in  his  place 
they'd  have  to  put  guards  all  around  that 
island  to  keep  him  there." 

"  How  far  was  it  from  the  White  Squall  to 
the  lightship?" 

"  About  twice  as  far  as  Mirror  Lake  is  wide. 
The  swim  wasn'  t  anything  to  be  afraid  of,  but 
the  rough  water — 

"And  the  sharks,"  interposed  Arthur. 

"By  gracious!"  exclaimed  Roy,  jumping 


238  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

up  from  the  bed  on  which  he  had  but  a  moment 
before  laid  himself  down.  "I  never  thought 
of  sharks,  and  I'm  glad  I  didn't.  It  would 
have  made  a  coward  of  me  sure,  and  I  was 
near  enough  to  that  as  it  was.  But  they  do 
have  them  around  that  lightship,  don' t  they  \ 
I  have  seen  the  fact  stated  in  the  papers  before 
now.  It  took  all  the  pluck  I  had  to  face  the 
waves,  and  if  I  had  thought  of  sharks  I  don't 
believe  you  ever  would  have  seen  me  again." 

"  Howe  wouldn't  have  had  the  courage  to  do 
what  you  did,"  observed  Arthur. 

"  I  don't  think  he  would,"  said  Joe.  "But 
then  he  never  would  have  been  called  upon  to 
do  it,  for  that  man  Willis  would  not  have  sent 
him  aboard  the  White  Squall  to  be  carried  to 
sea." 

"You  don't  think  Willis  got  Tony  and  Bob 
and  me  shanghaied  on  purpose,  do  you  ?  "  ex- 
claimed Roy,  who  had  not  dreamed  of  such  a 
thing.  "You  are  surely  mistaken.  I  saw 
those  men  driven  to  duty  with  a  piece  of 
rope." 

"I  don't  say  they  knew  they  were  going  to 
be  kidnapped  when  they  took  you  aboard  that 


WOULDN'T  BE  "PUMPED."  239 

vessel,  but  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  superinten- 
dent's  plan  for  getting  rid  of  the  whole  of 
you,"  replied  Joe,  who  then  went  on  to  tell  why 
he  thought  so.  Three  different  sailor  men  with 
whom  Roy  had  conversed  assured  him  that  the 
wind  didn'  t  blow  to  hurt  anything,  that  there 
was  no  need  that  anybody  in  a  small  boat 
should  seek  shelter  on  a  vessel  on  such  a  night 
as  last  night  was,  and  if  Hoy  could  not  see  that 
that  proved  something,  he  was  by  no  means  as 
bright  as  Joe  thought  he  was. 

"  I  can  see  it  now,"  said  Roy.  "  If  I  could 
only  bring  it  home  to  him  wouldn't  I— 

"  No  doubt  you  would  :  but  there's  the  trou- 
ble. You  can't  prove  anything.  I  am  sorry 
you  let  that  reporter  bamboozle  you  into  tell- 
ing him  all  about  your  adventure.  The  fellows 
he  told  you  to  look  out  for  were  on  rival  papers, 
and  it  was  his  business  to  keep  them  from  get- 
ting any  information  out  of  you  if  he  could. 
I  wish  the  evening  papers  were  out." 

The  others  wished  so  too,  but  four  long  hours 
passed  before  the  voice  of  the  newsboy  was 
heard  in  the  street,  and  then  Arthur  made  a 
rush  for  the  door.  When  he  returned  he  had 


240  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

a  copy  of  all  the  evening  papers  on  sale,  but 
the  Tribune  was  the  only  one  Roy  cared  to  see, 
and  it  was  promptly  passed  over  to  him. 

"  Here  it  is  in  black  and  white,"  he  groaned, 
almost  as  soon  as  he  opened  the  sheet.  '"A 
Plucky  Wheelman.  Something  that  might 
have  been  a  Tragedy.  The  Truth  about  it.' 
Read  it  out  and  then  go  and  pound  that  re- 
porter.'' 

Arthur  complied  with  many  misgivings,  but 
as  he  read  he  often  paused  to  look  at  his  chums, 
who  stared  at  him  and  at  each  other  in  turn. 
Everything  that  happened  on  board  the  White 
Squall  was  truthfully  described,  the  brutality 
of  the  ship's  officers  was  denounced  in  no 
measured  terms,  Roy's  short  but  desperate 
struggle  with  the  mate  was  told  in  graphic  lan- 
guage, but  the  only  ones  whose  real  names  were 
mentioned  were  the  two  lightship  men,  Cap- 
tain Jack  Rowan  and  the  scoundrel  Crawford. 
Roy  Sheldon  was  called  Peter  Smith  without  a 
word  of  excuse  or  apology,  while  Rowe  Shelly, 
his  guardian,  and  Willis,  the  superintendent, 
were  not  spoken  of  at  all.  The  boys  could  not 
understand  it ;  but  then  they  did  not  know 


WOULDN'T  BE  "  PUMPED."  241 

that  Howe's  guardian  was  part  owner  of  the 
Tribune  and  had  influence  enough  to  cause  the 
discharge  of  any  man  on  it  who  did  not  write 
to  suit  him.  As  soon  as  Arthur  finished  the 
article  they  all  went  to  work  to  examine  the 
other  papers  ;  but  there  was  nothing  in  them 
about  the  ' '  Plucky  Wheelman."  The  Tribune 
had  a  "scoop"  on  all  its  competitors. 

"  That  bangs  me,"  said  Roy,  at  length. 

"  It  suits  you,  does  it  not? " 

"Perfectly.  It's  better  than  I  thought  it 
could  be.  Of  course  our  folks  will  read  it,  but 
they'll  never  dream  that  one  of  us  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  it.  That  reporter  is  a  brick. 
You  needn't  mind  pounding  him,  boys." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Joe,  drily.  "  I  had  no 
intention  of  trying  anything  of  the  kind.  I 
have  heard  of  fellows  going  out  to  thrash  news- 
paper men  and  coming  home  on  a  shutter.  It 
might  have  been  so  in  this  case." 

Arthur  Hasting  voiced  the  sentiments  of  his 
companions  when  he  said  he  felt  as  if  a  big  load 
had  been  taken  off  his  shoulders.  Their  run 
wasn't  "blocked"  after  all. 


CHAPTER  XL 

ON  THE  ROAD  AGAIN. 

A  LTHOUGH  Roy  Sheldon  and  his  friends 
JLJL  were  greatly  relieved,  and  felt  duly 
thankful  to  the  reporter  who  had  concealed  the 
"plucky  wheelman's*"  identity  under  a  ficti- 
tious name,  and  thus  prevented  their  trip  from 
being  brought  to  a  sudden  end,  they  were  none 
the  less  impatient  to  take  the  road  again,  and 
their  two  days  of  enforced  inactivity  hung  heav- 
ily on  their  hands.  It  would  not  be  prudent  for 
them  to  call  upon  their  friends  in  the  city,  for, 
as  Roy  ruefully  affirmed,  they  would  have  to 
tell  them  the  truth,  and  they  might  as  well  go 
home  as  to  do  that.  Concealment  was  the  only 
thing  left  to  them,  but  reading  and  sleeping, 
with  an  occasional  discussion  of  their  recent 
experience,  were  monotonous  ways  for  healthy 
boys  to  pass  the  time.  Roy's  bruises  de- 
manded a  little  of  their  care  and  attention,  and 
before  long  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 

242 


ON   THE   ROAD   AGAIN.  243 

that  his  arm  was  not  as  lame  as  it  had  been, 
and  that  his  eyes  were  slowly  resuming  their 
natural  color.  But  it  was  two  weeks  before 
the  wondering  rustics  ceased  to  turn  and  gaze 
after  him  as  he  wheeled  swiftly  along  the  road. 

Saturday  morning  came  at  last,  and  after 
a  light  breakfast  the  three  Columbias  were 
brought  from  their  dark  closet  and  set  in  mo- 
tion again.  Of  course  we — that  is,  my  two 
companions  and  I — knew  nothing  of  the  strange 
things  that  had  taken  place  on  the  night  we 
were  put  into  our  closet  for  safe-keeping,  and 
we  were  on  the  road  at  least  a  week  before  we 
heard  as  much  of  the  story  as  I  have  already 
told  you.  We  were  fully  two  hundred  miles 
from  New  London  when  we,  most  unexpect- 
edly, heard  more  of  it,  and  back  in  Mount 
Airy  when  we  heard  the  conclusion  ;  so  you 
see  I  am  not  yet  through  with  the  events  that 
grew  out  of  Roy  Sheldon's  visit  to  the  city. 

Saturday's  run  was  short,  for  my  master  in- 
sisted that  the  doctor's  orders  should  be  im- 
plicitly obeyed,  but  still  it  was  a  hard  one. 
Before  they  were  fairly  out  of  the  city  limits 
the  sand  that  was  u  knee-deep"  obstructed 


244  THE   STEEL   HOESE. 

their  way,  and  made  the  young  wheelmen  cast 
longing  glances  toward  the  towpath  which  was 
in  plain  view.  But  the  sight  of  several  groups 
of  ragged  urchins,  some  of  whom  tried  hard 
and  perseveringly  to  get  a  stone  up  to  them, 
and  the  knowledge  that  one  of  their  number 
was  in  no  condition  for  a  fight,  if  one  was 
forced  upon  them,  made  them  keep  to  the 
highway. 

"But  I  tell  yo a  we'll  not  do  it  on  Monday 
for  all  the  canalers  in  the  State,"  said  Roy  that 
night,  when  he  and  his  companions  dismounted 
before  the  little  inn  that  was  to  be  their  stop- 
ping place.  "  We  are  so  far  out  of  the  city 
now  that  we  shall  not  see  very  many  boats,  and 
as  often  as  we  come  in  sight  of  a  settlement  of 
shanties,  we'll  climb  up  to  the  road  and  go 
around  it." 

The  proprietor  of  the  inn  said  he  was  used 
to  the  company  of  wheelmen,  and  the  bounti- 
ful supper  he  set  before  the  boys  proved  that 
he  was.  He  gave  them  comfortable  beds  too, 
and  on  Monday  morning  shoAved  them  a  path 
by  which  they  could  take  their  wheels  down  to 
the  bank  of  the  canal.  It  was  much  easier  rid- 


ON   THE   EOAD   AGAIN.  245 

ing  there  than  it  was  on  the  highway,  but,  as 
the  Omaha  wheelman  said,  they  found  the 
"  unspeakable  mule  "  there.  They  met  a  good 
many  boats  going  into  the  city,  and  nearly 
every  one  of  them  was  towed  by  a  span  of 
these  interesting  creatures.  The  boys  dis- 
mounted and  got  out  of  the  way  as  often  as 
they  saw  them  coming,  but  the  mules  were  not 
to  be  deceived  or  cheated  out  of  a  stampede  by 
any  such  shallow  artifice  as  that.  They  saw 
the  glittering  wheels,  and  that  was  enough  for 
them.  They  invariably  turned  like  a  flash  and 
tore  back  along  the  path  as  though  they  were 
frightened  out  of  their  wits,  but  always 
stopped  their  headlong  flight  just  in  time  to 
avoid  being  jerked  into  the  canal.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  reasonable  persons  would  have  been 
satisfied  with  the  precautions  taken  by  the 
boys  to  avoid  trouble,  but  I  soon  learned  that 
the  boatmen  were  not  reasonable.  They  swore 
lustily,  hurling  their  oaths  at  mules  and  cy- 
clists with  perfect  impartiality,  and  now  and 
then  a  very  angry  captain  would  order  his 
steersman  to  "hold  her  clost  in  to  the  bank 
so't  he  could  jump  ashore  an'  pitch  them 


246  THE   STEEL   HOESE. 

nuisances  into  the  drink";  but  when  the  boys 
heard  such  talk  as  that  they  mounted  and 
sped  lightly  along,  leaving  the  captain  to  re- 
cover his  good-nature  as  soon  as  he  got  ready, 
and  the  driver  to  manage  the  mules  in  any  way 
he  could.  By  following  this  course,  and  by 
making  a  flank  movement  on  every  "settle- 
ment of  shanties"  that  hove  in  sight,  they 
finally  reached  Bloomingdale  without  doing 
very  much  riding  in  the  sand. 

They  were  now  about  a  hundred  and  forty 
miles  from  home,  and  considered  their  journey 
fairly  begun.  Leaving  out  their  first  night  in 
New  London,  they  were  more  than  pleased 
with  their  experience.  Their  health  was  per- 
fect, their  brains,  to  quote  from  Roy  Sheldon, 
were  "as  clear  as  whistles,"  and  they  felt  equal 
to  any  amount  of  hard  work  either  on  the  road 
or  at  the  table.  Taking  timid  women,  skittish 
horses,  foolish  mules,  peppery  canal-boat  cap- 
tains, combative  boys  and  ugly  dogs  into  con- 
sideration, a  trip  like  this  had  just  enough  of 
the  exciting  and  perilous  in  it  to  make  it  in- 
teresting. 

Although  my  master  and  his  chums  longed 


OX   THE   ROAD   AGALN".  247 

to  hear  from  home,  they  opened  the  letters 
they  found  waiting  for  them  in  Bloomingdale 
with  some  fear  and  trembling.  As  I  looked  at 
it,  it  did  not  seem  possible  that  adventures 
like  Roy  Sheldon's,  and  an  exploit  such  as  he 
had  performed,  could  be  kept  covered  up  for 
any  length  of  time  (I  have  been  told  that  such 
things  have  a  way  of  "leaking  out  some- 
where"), nor  was  it  at  all  probable  that  every 
one  who  heard  of  them  would  be  as  considerate 
of  Roy's  wishes  as  the  Tribune  reporter  had 
shown  himself  to  be.  I  awaited  the  result 
with  as  much  excitement  as  Roy  Sheldon  ex- 
hibited when  he  seated  himself  on  the  porch 
in  front  of  the  hotel  and  opened  one  of  his 
mother's  letters — the  one  that  bore  the  latest 
date.  I  saw  him  run  his  eyes  over  the  closely 
written  pages,  and  when  he  laid  that  letter 
aside  and  picked  up  another,  intending  to  read 
them  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  written, 
I  knew  before  he  said  a  word  that  his  fears 
were  groundless  and  that  no  return  orders  had 
been  received. 

"My  folks  don't  suspect  anything  ;  how  is 
it  with  yours  ? "  said  he,  gleefully.     "Mother 


248  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

doesn't  say  a  word  about  Peter  Smith  who  was 
shanghaied  and  jumped  overboard  to  escape 
being  carried  to  sea,  and  that' s  all  the  evidence 
I  want  that  she  does  not  think  I  am  that  iden- 
tical Peter." 

Thanks  to  the  thoughtful  reporter,  who  did 
not  want  Roy  to  be  called  home  although  he 
did  want  all  the  news  the  boy  had  it  in  his 
power  to  give  him,  the  truth  was  never  sus- 
pected, and  after  a  short  rest  the  young  wheel- 
men turned  their  backs  upon  the  towpath  and 
the  pugnacious  youngsters  who  lived  beside  it, 
and  struck  out  again,  this  time  running  through 
a  fine  farming  country,  with  just  enough  tim- 
ber along  the  road  to  break  the  monotony  of 
the  scenery,  and  afford  them  shade  as  often  as 
they  felt  inclined  to  take  a  breathing  spell. 
They  were  not  the  only  cyclists  on  the  road, 
as  they  found  before  they  had  left  Blooming- 
dale  a  dozen  miles  behind.  They  were  wheel- 
ing along  in  Indian  file  at  a  moderate  pace, 
when  Joe  Wayring,  who  brought  up  the  rear, 
was  surprised  to  hear  a  voice  close  to  him  say : 

"  If  you  have  a  mind  to  listen  to  it,  I  believe 
I  can  give  you  young  gentlemen  a  word  of 


ON   THE   ROAD   AGAIN.  249 

advice  that  may  some  day  be  of  use  to  you." 
And  before  Joe  could  turn  his  head,  a  tall 
stranger  on  a  big  wheel  rode  up  beside  him. 
"  Where  have  you  come  from  and  where  are 
you  going,  if  it  is  a  fair  question  ? "  he  contin- 
ued, after  returning  Joe's  greeting.  "  I  judge 
from  your  bundles  that  you  are  on  a  trip  ;  but 
I  guess  you  haven't  been  out  very  long,  or 
else  you  followed  a  different  route  from  mine, 
for  you  are  not  half  as  dirty  as  I  am." 

This  broke  the  ice,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the 
boys  were  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the  strange 
wheelman,  who  could  not,  however,  give  them 
any  "pointers"  regarding  their  route,  for  he 
was  going  another  way,  and  besides  he  was  de- 
pending entirely  upon  his  road-book.  He  had 
been  out  four  weeks,  but  was  on  the  way  home 
now,  weighed  twenty  pounds  more  than  he  did 
when  he  set  out,  and  felt  strong  enough  to  tackle 
any  dinner  that  was  set  before  him.  My  mas- 
ter expressed  his  regrets  because  the  stranger 
was  not  going  their  way,  and  asked  him  what 
that  word  of  advice  was  he  said  he  could  give 
them. 

"You  wobble  too  much,"  said  the  wheel- 


250  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

man,  coming  to  the  point  at  once.  "I  have 
been  following  behind  for  the  last  mile  or  so, 
and  took  notice  of  the  fact  that  an  eighteen- 
inch  plank  would  scarcely  be  wide  enough  to 
cover  your  tracks." 

"I've  noticed  that  too,"  replied  Roy,  "but 
never  thought  it  worth  while  to  take  the  trou- 
ble to  ride  any  differently.  What's  the  odds  so 
long  as  one  has  the  whole  road  to  wobble  in?" 

"  None  whatever,"  said  the  stranger,  with  a 
laugh,  "  only  experts  who  come  on  your  track 
will  think  you  are  not  at  all  careful  as  to 
your  style,  or  else  they  will  put  you  down  as 
new  hands  at  the  business.  But  suppose  you 
should  come  to  a  railroad  bridge  with  only  a 
single  plank  laid  down  for  one  to  walk  upon. 
If  you  tried  to  run  over  it  you  would  go  off 
sure  ;  and  it  would  be  a  job  to  dismount  and 
carry  your  wheels.  Besides,  when  you  got 
home  you  wouldn't  like  to  confess  that  you 
had  done  such  a  thing." 

"  But  you  see  we  haven't  found  any  bridges 
of  that  sort  in  our  way  yet,  and  we  don't  mean 
to,"  replied  Joe.  "Our  plan  is  to  follow  the 
road  and  keep  clear  of  the  tracks." 


ON  THE   ROAD   AGAIN.  251 

"That's  the  resolve  I  made  when  I  set  out, 
but  I  haven't  held  to  it.  I  am  pretty  well 
satisfied  now  that  you  are  not  very  far  from 
home." 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  ? " 

"  Because  you  don' t  seem  to  care  anything 
for  distance  ;  but  wait  until  you  have  been  in 
the  saddle  a  week  at  a  stretch,  and  you  will  be 
glad  to  cut  off  all  the  miles  you  can.  You  will 
find  that  the  railroad  generally  follows  the 
shortest  route  between  two  points,  and  if  you 
have  made  up  your  minds  to  stop  for  the  night 
at  a  certain  place,  you  will  want  to  get  there 
the  easiest  way  you  can.  That's  the  time  you 
will  probably  take  to  the  track  and  find  some 
of  the  bridges  I  spoke  of  a  minute  ago." 

The  boys  traveled  several  miles  in  company 
with  the  pleasant  stranger  who,  to  quote  once 
more  from  Roy  Sheldon,  ''was  just  chuck  full 
of  good  stories  and  advice,"  and  it  was  with 
much  regret  that  they  took  leave  of  him,  saw 
him  turn  off  from  their  route  and  continue  his 
journey  alone.  How  often  it  happens  that  lit- 
tle things  bring  about  great  events  !  You  shall 
presently  see  what  grew  out  of  this  short  in- 


252  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

terview  which  happened  by  the  merest  acci- 
dent. 

"  From  this  day  forward  I  mend  my  style  of 
riding,"  said  Joe  Wayring,  when  their  chance 
companion  had  been  left  out  of  sight.  "I 
never  knew  before  that  a  wheelman  left  traces 
by  which  an  expert  could  judge  of  his  skill, 
but  I  know  it  now,  and  by  this  time  next  week 
I  bet  you  I'll  be  steady  enough  to  ride  a  six- 
inch  plank  on  top  of  the  highest  railroad  bridge 
in  the  country." 

The  others  said  the  same,  and  from  that 
moment  began  exercising  more  care  in  the 
management  of  their  wheels.  If  that  stranger 
could  have  come  up  behind  thejn  now,  he 
wrould  not  have  seen  so  many  zig-zag  tracks 
in  the  road.  But  no  doubt  he  would  have 
laughed  at  them  for  so  quickly  forgetting  their 
resolve  to  "stick  to  the  highway  and  steer 
clear  of  the  railroad  tracks  ";  for  that  was  just 
what  they  did.  Before  a  week  had  passed 
over  their  heads  they  began  to  realize  that  it 
required  a  good  many  motions  with  the  pedals 
to  take  them  a  day's  journey,  and  bring  them 
to  the  place  at  which  they  had  beforehand  de- 


ON  THE   ROAD   AGAIN.  253 

cided  to  pass  the  night,  that  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  sameness  in  wheeling,  in  spite  of  the 
new  scenes  and  new  faces  that  were  constantly 
coming  before  them,  and  they  were  not  so  very 
long  in  learning  by  actual  test  that  "the  rail- 
road usually  follows  the  shortest  route  between 
two  points."  But,  strange  to  say,  they  en- 
countered but  few  cattle-guards,  no  bridges  or 
trestle-works,  and  the  culverts  were  so  well 
covered  that  they  scarcely  knew  when  they 
passed  over  them.  Except  when  following 
these  short  cuts  they  adhered  rigidly  to  the 
instructions  laid  down  in  their  road-book,  but 
one  day  even  that  guide,  which  ought  to  have 
been  infallible,  led  them  astray  ;  and  here  is 
the  passage  that  did  the  mischief  : 

"After  a  good  nooning  among  the  Bergen 
shades  a  bee-line  can  be  struck  for  Dorchester, 
over  a  road  with  occasional  patches  of  sand. 
Luckily  these  patches  can  be  avoided  by  mak- 
ing use  of  portages  in  the  shape  of  the  ever- 
welcome  cow-path,  which  winds  off  to  the  side 
of  the  road  most  conveniently.  The  cow  fig- 
ures most  usefully  in  touring  as  a  path-maker 
in  districts  where  the  road  commissioners  are 
derelict.  Also  as  a  dispenser  of  a  beverage 


254  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

which  is  the  best  of  all  drinks  anywhere,  and 
especially  on  the  road." 

The  guide-book  also  went  on  to  say  that  at 
one  place  along  the  route  a  cow-path  led  di- 
rectly to  a  brook,  at  which  the  weary  and 
hungry  wheelman  might  stop  and  cast  a 
line  with  a  more  than  reasonable  expecta- 
tion of  catching  a  good-sized  trout  for  his 
dinner. 

"We've  struck  it,"  said  Arthur,  who  had 
read  aloud  the  route  for  that  particular  day  be- 
fore the  three  left  their  hotel  in  the  morning. 
"  Here's  the  sand,  and  it's  knee-deep  too,  as 
sand  always  is.  Now,  where  is  the  cow-path 
that  leads  to  the  brook  ?  " 

"Here's  a  path,  but  whether  it  goes  to  the 
brook  or  not,  I  can't  guess,"  answered  Joe. 
"Let's  try  it,  and  see  if  it  will  take  us  to  a 
dispenser  of  that  beverage,  whatever  it  is,  the 
book  speaks  of." 

"It's  milk,"  said  Roy,  smacking  his  lips. 
"I'd  a  little  rather  have  it  off  the  ice,  but  I 
wouldn't  refuse  it  warm  just  now,  for  I  am 
thirsty  and  hungry  besides." 

"That's     nothing     new,"      retorted     Joe. 


OX    THE   ROAD   AGAIX.  255 

"You've  been  that  way  ever  since  we  left 
home.  Come  on,  fellows.  Somebody  has  been 
through  here,  for  the  most  of  the  branches 
have  been  removed,  and  a  log  or  two  cut  out  of 
the  path." 

"  What  is  that  welcome  sound  that  comes 
faintly  to  my  ears?"  said  Roy,  in  a  heavy 
voice,  as  he  mounted  his  wheel  and  followed 
his  leader  through  the  woods.  "Is  it  what 
By ron  calls  the  tocsin  of  the  soul,  the  dinner 
bell  ?  No  ;  it  is  a  cow  bell.  Push  on,  Joe. 
Who's  got  a  cup  handy  ? " 

Their  first  hard  work  was  to  locate  the  cow 
which  wore  the  bell,  and  their  second  to  ascer- 
tain whether  or  not  she  would  permit  the  boys 
to  approach  her  on  short  acquaintance.  They 
had  no  trouble  at  all  in  going  straight  to  the 
little  glade  from  which  the  bell  sounded,  for 
the  path  took  them  to  it.  There  were  half  a 
dozen  cows  in  sight,  but  they  were  evidently 
accustomed  to  having  wheelmen  intrude  upon 
them,  for  they  merely  looked  at  the  boys  and 
went  on  with  their  feeding.  The  three  bicycles 
were  leaned  against  convenient  trees,  the  cup 
Roy  wanted  was  quickly  brought  to  light,  and 


256  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

then  Joe  and  Arthur  began  a  cautious  stalking 
of  the  nearest  cow. 

"  That's  no  way  to  do  business,"  said  Roy, 
who  brought  up  the  rear  with  the  cup  in  his 
hand.  "  Go  straight  up  to  her  as  if  you  had  a 
secret  to  tell  her,  for  if  you  go  to  sneaking 
she'll  get  suspicious  and  dig  out.  That's  the 
way  to  do  it,  Joe.  Now  scratch  her  on  the 
neck  or  behind  the  horns,  and  I'll  soon  have  a 
cupful  of  that  beverage  which  is  the  best  of  all 
drinks  anywhere,  and  especially  on  the  road.  I 
declare,  she's  as  gentle  as  an  old  cow,  and  it's 
going  to  be  a  good  deal  easier  than  I  thought. 
Art,  you  had  better  lumber  back  to  the  bikes 
and  bring  two  more  cups.  We'll  have  a  jolly 
tuck-out  on  milk  while  we  are  about  it." 

In  a  few  minutes  more  three  hungry  and 
tired  boys,  each  with  a  brimming  cup  of  rich 
country  milk  in  one  hand  and  a  sandwich  in 
the  other,  were  sitting  on  the  ground  under 
the  shade  of  a  spreading  beech,  enjoying  a 
substantial  lunch  and  fervently  thanking  the 
author  of  their  road-book  for  his  timely  sug- 
gestions regarding  cow-paths  and  the  kindly 
animals  which  made  them.  Of  course  it  was 


ON  THE   KOAD  AGAIN.  257 

much  better  than  any  lunch  they  ever  had  at 
home,  and  they  had  but  one  fault  to  find  with 
it ;  there  wasn't  enough  of  it. 

"I move  that  we  let  that  trout  brook  alone," 
said  Joe.  "  We  are  not  so  hungry  but  that 
we  can  stand  it  until  we  reach  the  end  of  our 
day's  run,  and  besides,  we  can  find  better  ang- 
ling nearer  home  when  we  havfe  more  time  at 
our  disposal." 

"That's  what  I  say,"  chimed  in  Arthur. 
"  We've  twelve  miles  farther  to  go,  and  I  am 
in  favor  of  setting  out  at  once  ;  for  the  longer 
we  stay  here  the  lazier  we'll  get.  Let's  follow 
the  path  until  we  get  on  the  other  side  of 
those  patches  of  sand,  and  then  make  the  pace 
hot  and  get  to  Dorchester  as  soon  as  we  can. 
We'll  have  to  lie  by  to-morrow,  for  it's  going 
to  rain." 

The  clouds  certainly  looked  threatening,  and 
the  prospect  of  being  caught  in  a  smart 
shower  before  they  could  reach  the  shelter  of 
the  hotel  at  which  they  intended  to  stop  for 
the  night,  was  enough  to  put  energy  even 
into  Roy  Sheldon,  who  was  called  the  laziest 
boy  in  the  party.  He  didn't  want  to  be  put 


258  THE   STEEL  IIOESE. 

to  the  trouble  of  cleaning  the  mud  off  his  fine 
wheel  before  he  went  to  bed  ;  so  he  led  the 
way  at  a  brisk  gait,  paying  little  or  no  atten- 
tion to  where  he  was  going  so  long  as  the  path 
was  smooth  and  plain,  and  the  first  thing  he 
knew  he  was  brought  up  standing  by  a  brush 
pile  in  front  of  him. 

"This  bangs  me;  now  where' s  the  trail?" 
was  all  he  had  to  say  about  it. 

"It  has  ended  as  nearly  all  trails  do," 
replied  Joe,  quoting  from  one  of  his  favorite 
authors  and  trying  to  get  a  glimpse  at  the 
clouds  through  the  net-work  of  branches 
above  his  head.  "It  branched  off  to  right 
and  left,  grew  dimmer  and  slimmer,  degen- 
erated into  a  rabbit  path,  petered  out  in  a 
squirrel  track,  ran  up  a  tree  and  lost  itself  in 
a  knot-hole." 

"But  I  don't  think  I  shall  go  up  to  find  it," 
answered  Roy.  "  It  will  be  easier  to  take  the 
back  track." 

And  it  was  easier  to  say  that  than  it  was  to 
do  it,  as  Arthur  Hastings  found  when  he  came 
to  make  the  attempt.  When  the  line  faced 
about  he  became  the  leader,  and  before  he  had 


ON  THE   ROAD   AGAIN.  259 

gone  a  dozen  yards  he ,  found  himself  at  fault. 
The  ground  was  so  hard  and  so  thickly 
covered  with  leaves  that  their  wheels  left  no 
trail  that  could  be  followed,  and  as  the  bell 
had  been  left  out  of  hearing  they  could  not 
find  the  glade.  To  make  matters  worse,  all 
the  signs  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  cows 
which  were  pastured  there  had  done  nothing 
during  the  past  year  but  travel  about  from 
one  end  of  the  wood-lot  to  the  other  ;  for  the 
trails  they  had  made  were  numerous,  and 
twisted  about  in  the  most  bewildering  way. 
In  sheer  desperation  Arthur  turned  into  every 
one  he  came  to,  trundling  his  wheel  beside 
him,  and  his  companions  blindly  followed  in 
his  wake. 

"This  will  begin  to  get  interesting  if  we 
don't  get  out  pretty  soon,"  said  Joe,  glancing 
at  his  watch.  "Night  is  coming  on  apace  and 
we're  twelve  miles  from  shelter." 

"But  we  are  within  easy  reach  of  our 
blankets,  matches  and  camp-axes,"  replied 
Arthur,  "and  if  we  have  to  sleep  in  the 
woods,  it  will  not  be  the  first  time  we  have 
done  it." 


260  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

"But  we  haven't  a  bite  to  eat,"  groaned  the 
hungry  boy  of  the  party. 

At  last  Arthur  fell  back  to  the  rear  and  gave 
place  to  Joe  Wayring,  who  in  his  turn  gave 
way  to  Roy  ;  but  one  guide  was  about  as  good 
as  another,  for  all  the  best  of  them  did  was  to 
lead  his  companions  farther  from  the  road 
they  wanted  to  find  and  deeper  into  the  woods. 
There  were  paths  enough,  otherwise  they 
would  have  found  it  impossible  to  walk  as  far 
as  they  did,  for  the  bushes  on  each  side  were  so 
thick  that  they  could  not  have  carried  their 
wheels  through  them.  But  the  difficulty  was, 
those  paths  ran  in  every  direction,  and  did  not 
tend  toward  any  particular  point  of  the  com- 
pass. The  woods  grew  darker  every  minute, 
and  at  last,  when  they  were  beginning  to  talk 
seriously  of  making  a  camp  and  going  supper- 
less  to  bed,  Roy  Sheldon  shouted  out  that  he 
could  see  daylight  before  him,  and  pres- 
ently the  three  boys  emerged  from  the 
woods. 

"  I  knew  I  could  bring  you  out  if  you  would 
trust  to  my  superior  knowledge  of  woodcraft," 
said  Roy  complacently.  "I  tell  you,  you 


ON  THE  ROAD   AGAIN.  261 

can't  lose  me  in  any  little  piece  of  woods  like 
this." 

"But  what  sort  of  a  place  have  you  brought 
us  to  with  your  superior  knowledge?"  ex- 
claimed Arthur.  "  This  isn't  our  road." 

"  I  didn't  say  it  was,  my  friend,"  was  Roy's 
reply.  "  I  simply  said  I  had  brought  you  out 
of  the  woods." 

"Only  to  lose  us  again,"  chimed  in  Joe. 
"This is  a  railroad." 

"And  a  one-track  concern  at  that,"  said 
Arthur.  "Crooked  as  a  ram's  horn,  so  that 
we  can't  see  a  train  until  it  is  close  upon  us, 
and  consequently  dangerous.  It' s  been  raining 
hard  here.  The  ditches  on  each  side  are  full 
of  water." 

"  Which  means  muddy  wheels  to  clean 
to-night  in  case  a  train  drives  us  off  the  track. 
Shall  we  try  it  ?" 

' '  Of  course.  But  which  end  of  the  road  will 
take  us  to  our  destination?  That's  what  I 
should  like  to  know." 

"Ask  us  something  easy,"  answered  Joe, 
as  he  lifted  his  wheel  over  the  ditch  and  placed 
it  upon  the  track.  "Dorchester  must  be  at 


262  THE   STEEL   HOESE. 

one  end  or  the  other,  but  we'll  have  to  go  it 
blind.  Which  way  shall  we  start?"  added 
Joe,  who  while  he  was  speaking  kept  turning 
his  wheel  first  up  and  then  down  the  track. 
"  The  majority  rules." 

"That  way,"  said  Roy. 

"  Come  on  then.  Let's  cover  as  many  miles 
as  we  can  while  daylight  lasts.  We'll  have 
to  touch  a  match  to  our  lamps  pretty  soon." 

It  was  fine  wheeling  on  the  hard  road-bed, 
and  Joe  Wayring  made  the  pace  hot  enough 
to  satisfy  anybody  but  a  professional  racer ; 
but  fast  as  he  went,  the  darkness  traveled 
faster,  and  when  they  had  gone  about  three 
miles,  he  suggested  that  the  lamps  ought  to  be 
lighted. 

"These  thick  woods  and  high  banks  on  each 
side  shut  out  what  little  light  there  is,"  said 
he,  "and  it  is  darker  where  we  are  than  it 
ought  to  be.  We  have  never  been  this  way 
before,  and  no  one  knows  how  soon  we  may 
blunder  into  a  cattle-guard  and  get  a  brok- 
en head  without  a  chance  to  see  what 
hurt  us." 

Another  start  at  a  more  moderate  pace  was 


ON  THE   KOAD   AGAIN.  263 

made  as  soon  as  the  lamps  had  been  lit,  and 
by  the  time  the  fourth  mile  had  been  left 
behind,  it  was  as  dark  as  a  pocket.  This  was 
a  new  experience,  and  the  boys  did  not  like  it. 
Although  they  had  often  seen  wheelmen  run- 
ning about  the  streets  when  it  was  so  dark 
they  could  not  tell  where  they  were  going,  Joe 
and  his  chums  had  never  tried  to  do  it  them- 
selves, because  they  did  not  like  to  trust  so 
much  to  luck.  A  small  stone  or  a  stick  which 
some  careless  boy  had  left  in  the  track  might 
send  them  to  the  ground,  and  my  master  was 
not  fond  of  taking  headers.  Thus  far  he  and 
his  friends  had  been  very  fortunate  in  avoiding 
any  very  serious  falls,  and  they  did  not  care 
to  run  any  risk  of  spoiling  their  record.  But 
Joe  came  within  a  hair's  breadth  of  scoring  a 
bad  fall  on  this  particular  night.  Although 
he  thought  he  was  paying  especial  attention  to 
the  road  close  in  front  of  him.  he  was  really 
paying  more  to  the  rippling  of  a  brook  that 
flowed  through  a  yawning  gulf  on  his  right 
hand,  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  keeping 
a  bright  lookout  for  a  locomotive  head- 
light. 


264  THE   STEEL   HOESE. 

u  That's  an  awful  pokerish  place  over  in 
there,"  Arthur  remarked,  jerking  his  head 
sideways  toward  the  ravine  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  "and  the  railroad  seems  to  have  been 
built  on  the  very  brink  of  it.  Why  didn't  the 
engineers  cut  out  more  of  the  hill  on  the  op- 
posite side  and  put  it  farther — eh  ? " 

A  warning  shout  from  Joe  Wayring  cut 
short  Arthur's  criticism,  and  brought  him  and 
Roy  to  a  sudden  halt.  There  was  a  rock  lying 
on  the  track,  and  it  was  so  large  that  it  covered 
the  rails  on  both  sides.  Then  followed  that 
hurried  consultation  which  I  have  recorded  at 
the  beginning  of  my  story.  While  it  was 
going  on  Joe,  with  the  aid  of  his  lamp,  ex- 
amined the  face  of  the  bluff,  and  could  dis- 
tinctly trace  the  path  made  by  the  bowlder 
when  it  rolled  down  from  the  top,  and  the 
others  took  a  good  look  at  the  rock  itself. 
Two  things  were  plain  to  them :  The  rock 
was  on  the  track,  and  they  could  not  muster 
force  enough  to  get  it  off.  The  first  train  that 
came  along  would  find  it  there,  as  well  as  a 
gulf  of  unknown  depth  ready  to  receive  all  the 
cars  that  were  tumbled  into  it. 


ON  THE  EOAD  AGAIN.  265 

"  Suppose  it  should  be  a  passenger  train  ? " 
gasped  Roy. 

"  Or  an  excursion  ? "  added  Arthur. 

Something  must  be  done,  and  that,  too,  with- 
out the  loss  of  a  moment. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

JOE'S     WILD    KIDE. 


we've  got  to  stop  that  train," 
said  Joe,  speaking  rapidly  but  calmly. 

"But  how  do  we  know  which  way  it  is  com- 
ing from?"  asked  Roy,  who  did  not  show 
half  as  much  pluck  now  as  he  did  while  he 
was  struggling  with  the  mate  on  board  the 
White  Squall. 

"We  don't  know,"  answered  Joe.  "It's 
our  business  to  find  out.  Art,  you  go  back 
along  the  way  we  have  come,  and  I'll  go 
ahead.  Roy,  you  stay  here  and  be  ready  to 
signal  either  way  in  case  anything  happens  to 
us  and  we  don't  succeed  in  stopping  the  train. 
Raise  your  lamp  as  high  in  the  air  as  you  can 
and  lower  it  suddenly.  That's  'down  brakes' 
on  the  Mount  Airy  road,  and  I  suppose  the 
signal  is  the  same  the  world  over.  At  any  rate 
an  engineer  with  half  sense  will  understand  it. 
Off  we  go  now.  Don'  t  be  reckless  of  headers, 
Art,  but  speed  along  lively." 

266 


JOE'S  WILD  EIDE.  267 

In  two  seconds  more  my  master  and  Arthur 
Hastings  were  hurrying  away  in  different 
directions,  and  Roy,  having  carried  his  wheel 
across  the  ditch  and  placed  it  against  the  face 
of  the  bluff,  was  sitting  on  the  rock  with  his 
lamp  in  his  hand.  In  another  two  seconds  Joe 
and  I  whirled  around  a  sharp  bend  and  were 
out  of  sight  of  everybody. 

That  was  the  wildest  and  most  reckless  run 
I  ever  undertook,  for  my  master  did  not  by 
any  means  follow  the  advice  he  had  given 
Arthur  Hastings.  When  Joe  Wayring  went 
into  a  thing  he  went  in  with  his  whole  heart. 
I  went  ahead  faster  that  I  had  ever  been  driven 
before,  but  a  tricycle  could  not  have  run  with 
more  steadiness.  Joe  did  not  need  the  whole 
road-bed  to  travel  in  as  he  would  if  he  had  at- 
tempted a  fast  gait  a  week  before,  but  held  me 
firmly  in  one  track.  I  could  plainly  see  the  way 
for  a  short  distance  in  front  of  me,  catch  the 
glimmering  of  the  wet  rails  on  each  side,  and 
hear  the  faint  "  swishing  "  sound  made  by  the 
rubber  tires  as  they  spurned  the  ground  under 
them  ;  but  all  on  a  sudden  this  sound  ceased 
— or,  rather,  it  gave  way  to  a  very  low  rumble, 


268  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

such  as  I  had  never  heard  before.  The  high 
bank  on  the  left  sank  out  of  sight ;  the  gur- 
gling of  the  stream  far  below  became  a  roar  ; 
solid  walls  of  blackness  surrounded  us  on  all 
sides,  relieved  only  by  that  little  streak  of 
light  in  front ;  and  to  my  inexpressible  horror 
I  discovered  that  we  no  longer  had  the  firm 
road-bed  beneath  us.  We  had  left  it,  and 
were  rushing  with  almost  breathless  speed  over 
a  trestle-work  whose  height  could  only  be 
guessed  at.  An  eight-inch  plank  nailed  to 
the  timbers  between  the  tracks  was  our  path- 
way. It  was  plenty  wide  enough  for  Joe,  now 
that  he  had  "mended  his  style  of  riding,"  if 
the  plank  had  only  been  on  the  ground,  and 
he  had  had  daylight  to  show  him  where  he 
was  going  ;  but  there  was  plenty  of  room  for 
accident.  Suppose  the  plank  should  not  ex- 
tend entirely  across  the  trestle,  which  was  so 
long  that  I  began  to  wonder  if  there  was  any 
other  end  to  it !  Or  what  if  a  tire  should  come 
off  ?  Such  accidents  sometimes  happen  to  the 
most  careful  bicyclists,  and  when  I  pictured  to 
myself  Joe  Wayring  lying  stunned  and  bleed- 
ing among  those  timbers,  and  in  danger  of 


JOE'S  WILD  KLDE.  269 

slipping  through,  into  the  rocky  bed  of  the 
stream  beneath  while  I  toppled  over  the  edge 
— when  I  thought  of  these  things,  I  shivered 
so  violently  that  my  nickel-plated  spokes 
would  have  rattled  if  they  had  not  been  tan- 
gent and  tied  together. 

As  for  Joe  Wayring,  there  was  not  the 
faintest  exclamation  from  him  to  show  that 
he  realized  his  danger,  although  I  knew  well 
enough  that  he  couldn't  help  seeing  it.  If  his 
nerves  had  not  been  in  perfect  health,  some- 
thing disastrous  would  surely  have  happened. 
He  struck  the  plank  and  passed  over  thirty 
feet  of  its  length  before  he  had  time  to 
take  in  the  situation.  Once  started  along  the 
trestle  he  had  to  go  on  ;  there  was  no  help  for 
it.  The  light  from  the  lamp  was  all  thrown 
ahead,  and  an  effort  to  dismount  in  the  dark- 
ness might  have  resulted  in  a  disabling  fall 
among  the  timbers  with  me  on  top.  Then 
what  would  become  of  the  train,  if  it  ap- 
proached from  the  direction  in  which  he  was 
going  ?  Plainly  his  only  chance  was  to  keep  in 
motion  ;  and  Joe  not  only  did  that,  but  he  laid 
out  extra  power  on  the  pedals,  and  sent  me 


270  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

ahead  with  increased  speed.  The  rails  looked 
like  two  continuous  streaks  of  light,  and  the 
timbers  passed  behind  with  such  rapidity  that 
they  presented  the  appearance  of  a  solid  floor. 
So  great  was  our  speed  that  by  the  time  I  had 
thought  of  all  this,  and  become  so  badly 
frightened  that  I  would  have  tumbled  over  if 
my  momentum  had  not  kept  me  right  side  up, 
that  low  rumbling  sound  ceased  as  suddenly 
as  it  had  begun,  the  graveled  road-bed,  trodden 
smooth  in  the  middle,  shot  into  view  and  came 
rushing  under  the  wheels,  two  high  bluffs 
came  out  of  the  darkness  and  shut  us  in  on 
both  sides,  and  the  trestle  and  its  terrors  were 
left  behind.  At  the  same  instant,  as  if  by  a 
preconcerted  signal,  a  bright  light  appeared 
far  up  the  track,  which  at  this  point  was  per- 
fectly straight,  and  another  still  nearer.  The 
first  was  from  the  head  light  of  the  approach- 
ing train,  and  the  second  was  emitted  by  a 
lantern  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  seemed  to 
be  searching  for  something,  for  he  held  his  light 
first  toward  one  rail  and  then  toward  the  other. 
He  was  moving  away  from  us. 

"It's  the  track- walker,"  gasped  Joe,  as  he 


JOE'S  WILD  RIDE.  271 

sounded  his  bell ;  and  those  were  the  first 
words  I  had  heard  him  speak  since  we  left  the 
rock.  "  Suppose  I  had  run  onto  him  while  I 
was  scooting  along  that  narrow  plank  !  I'  d  be 
dead  now,  sure." 

The  moment  the  man  with  the  lantern  heard 
the  bell  he  faced  about ;  but,  to  my  surprise, 
he  did  not  appear  to  be  at  all  alarmed.  The 
orders  he  straightway  began  shouting  at  us 
showed  conclusively  that  he  was  used  to  wheel- 
men and  their  methods. 

"  Git  aff  the  track,  ye  shpalpeen,"  he 
yelled,  frantically  flourishing  his  lantern  in  the 
air.  "  Don't  ye  see  the  kyars  coming  forninst 
ye,  an'  haven't  I  towled  ye  times  widout  num- 
ber, that  if  ye  gets  killed  ye  can't  get  no  dam- 
ages from  the  company  ?  Will  yees  git  aff  the 
track?" 

"Stop  that  train,"  shouted  Joe,  in  reply. 
"  There's  an  obstruction  on  the  track  just  be- 
yond the  trestle." 

"  What  for  lookin'  abstraction  is  it?  "  in- 
quired the  track-walker,  incredulously. 

"  A  big  rock,"  replied  Joe  ;  and  seeing  at 
once  that  he  had  a  stupid,  and  no  doubt  an 


272  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

obstinate,  man  to  deal  with,  he  did  not  neglect 
to  make  preparations  to  stop  the  train  himself. ' 
He  promptly  got  me  out  of  the  way  and  de- 
tached the  lamp  ;  and  when  he  bent  over  so 
that  the  light  fell  upon  his  face,  I  started  in 
spite  of  myself.  He  was  as  white  as  a  sheet. 

"Aw !  GPlong  wid  ye  now,"  said  the  track- 
walker. "  Don't  I  be  goin'  down  beyant  there 
onct  or  twicst  bechune  trains  iv'ry  blessed  day 
of  me  loife  for  three  years  an'  better  ?  An' 
don't  I  know — " 

"I  don't  care  what  you  have  done  during 
the  last  three  years,  or  what  you  know,"  inter- 
rupted Joe,  as  he  ran  back  to  the  track  and 
signaled  "down  brakes"  with  his  lamp. 
"  There's  a  rock  on  the  track — What  are  you 
trying  to  do,  you  loon  ? "  exclaimed  Joe,  hotly,, 
as  the  man  made  an  eifort  to  push  him  away 
and  take  his  lamp  from  him.  "Let  me  alone 
or  I  will  report  you.  There'll  be  a  wreck  here 
in  a  minute  more,  and  you  will  lose  your  place 
on  the  road." 

Although  the  man  didn't  like  the  idea  of 
allowing  an  outsider  to  interfere  with  his  busi- 
ness, Joe's  words  had  just  the  effect  upon  him 


JOE'S  WILD  KIDE.  273 

that  the  boy  intended  they  should  have,  and 
after  a  little  hesitation  he  began  signaling  with 
his  own  light.  Between  them  they  succeeded 
in  attracting  the  attention  of  the  engineer,  who 
called  for  brakes,  and  stopped  his  train  within 
a  few  feet  of  the  place  where  Joe  and  the  track- 
walker stood. 

"What's  the  trouble?"  he  asked  from  his 
cab  window ;  and  while  Joe  was  explaining, 
the  conductor  came  up  and  listened.  The  lat- 
ter looked  first  at  my  master  and  then  at  me, 
and  presently  said : 

"  You  didn't  ride  across  the  trestle,  of 
course." 

"Of  course  I  did,"  replied  Joe,  "  I  couldn't 
have  got  across  any  other  way.  I  would  have 
been  afraid  to  walk  that  narrow  plank  in  the 
dark.  How  high  is  it  above  the  water  ? ' ' 

"  Sixty  feet  in  some  places,  and  the  trestle 
is  just  half  a  mile  long,"  answered  the  con- 
ductor. "  Here,  boys,  put  that  wheel  into  the 
baggage  car.  Young  man,  you  come  with  me, 
and  I  will  take  you  to  Dorchester." 

"That's  where  we  want  to  go,"  said  Joe, 
surprised  to  learn  that  he  and  his  friends  had 


274  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

been  riding  on  the  back  track  ever  since  they 
struck  the  railroad. 

In  obedience  to  the  conductor's  order  I  was 
hoisted  into  the  baggage  car,  placed  against  a 
pile  of  trunks  so  that  I  could  see  through  the 
wide-open  door  and  the  engineer  pulled  slowly 
ahead.  I  had  little  idea  how  far  we  had  run 
after  leaving  the  trestle,  but  we  were  fully  five 
minutes  in  getting  back  to  it,  and  much  longer 
in  crossing  it.  There  seemed  to  be  no  bottom 
to  the  gulf  it  spanned.  It  was  so  deep  that  I 
could  see  nothing  but  the  tops  of  the  trees 
that  grew  in  it.  About  the  time  we  got  to  the 
other  end  of  it  the  baggage-master,  who  had 
been  leaning  half-way  out  the  opposite  door, 
drew  in  his  head  long  enough  to  remark 
to  some  one  whom  I  took  to  be  his  assis- 
tant : 

"  There's  a  chap  out  there  calling  for  brakes 
the  best  he  knows  how,"  and  I  straightway 
made  up  my  mind  that  it  must  be  Roy 
Sheldon.  "This  would  be  a  bad  place  for  an 
accident  with  such  a  trainful  of  passengers  as 
we've  got.  There's  the  rock,"  he  added,  a  mov 
ment  later,  "and  it's  as  big  as  this  car.'* 


JOE'S  \VILD  HIDE.  275 

It  wasn't  quite  as  large  as  that,  nor  do  I  sup- 
pose it  was  even  half  as  large  as  Rube  Roy- 
all's  cabin ;  but  it  was  big  and  heavy  enough 
to  tax  the  strength  of  all  the  men  who  could 
get  around  it,  including  the  engineer,  fireman, 
cond  actor,  all  the  brakemen,  some  of  the  pas- 
sengers and  two  wheelmen.  With  the  aid  of 
levers  and  much  lifting  and  pushing  they  got 
it  started  at  last,  and  it  went  down  into  the 
gulf  with  a  terrific  crash.  I  heard  the  engineer 
say,  as  he  climbed  back  into  his  cab,  that 
if  he  had  struck  that  rock  going  as  fast  as 
he  usually  did  at  that  place,  he  would  have 
demolished  his  train  so  completely  that  it 
would  have  taken  a  microscope  to  find  the 
wreck. 

"  All  clear,"  shouted  the  conductor.  "  All 
aboard.  Pass  along  that  other  wheel." 

"  One  moment,  please.  There's  another  man 
in  our  party  who  went  down  that  way  be- 
cause we  didn't  know  where  to  look  for  the  first 
train,"  said  Joe,  waving  his  hand  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  Arthur  Hastings  had  disappeared. 
"  He'll  be  back  directly,  and  as  we  don't  care 
to  be  separated,  perhaps  you  had  better  leave 


276  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

us  here.  We're  just  as  much  obliged  to  you, 
however." 

"Has  the  other  man  got  a  lamp  ?  All  right. 
Jake,"  said  the  conductor,  addressing  the  en- 
gineer, "  keep  a  lookout  for  another  wheelman 
a  mile  or  so  down  the  road.  That'll  be  all 
right.  Pile  in." 

Joe  and  Roy  went  into  one  of  the  passenger 
cars,  while  the  latter' s  wheel  was  placed  at  my 
side  against  the  trunks.  The  first  words  he 
uttered  were  : 

"  It's  just  dreadful  to  think  of,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"Not  so  much  so  as  it  might  be,"  said  I. 
"  If  I  had  broken  Joe  Wayring's  head  for  him 
while  he  was  driving  me  at  top  speed  across 
that  trestle,  then  you  might  have  had  some- 
thing to  talk  about." 

"We've  enough  as  it  is.  I  know  it  might 
have  been  worse,  and  some  unknown  villains 
meant  it  should  be.  Roy  Sheldon  showed  the 
marks  to  the  engineer  as  soon  as  he  got  out  of 
his  cab." 

"What  marks?" 

"Why,  the  marks  on  the  rock.  The  engi- 
neer called  the  conductor's  attention  to  them, 


JOE'S  WILD  RIDE.  277 

and  together  they  made  it  up  not  to  say  a  word 
about  it  in  the  hearing  of  the  passengers  for 
fear  of  frightening  them." 

"  What  in  the  world  did  the  passengers 
have  to  be  frightened  about  so  long  as  Joe  and 
I  stopped  the  train  and  averted  the  disaster  ? 
They  ought  to  be  tickled." 

"  Well,  they  wouldn't  be  if  they  knew  how 
that  rock  came  to  be  on  the  track.  You  prob- 
ably did  not  see  the  conductor  when  he 
threw  some  pieces  of  round  wood  over  the 
brink  into  the  ravine,  but  I  did,  and  I  know 
that  they  were  the  rollers  that  were  used  to 
bring  that  bowlder  into  place  after  it  had  been 
tumbled  down  from  the  bluff.  There's  train- 
wreckers  in  this  country,  I  tell  you." 

Roy's  bike  was  so  excited  over  what  might 
have  happened  if  we  had  found  that  railroad 
half  an  hour  later,  that  he  could  not  tell  a 
straight  story  ;  but  this  is  what  I  managed  to 
draw  from  him  after  much  patient  and  ingeni- 
ous questioning : 

When  Joe  and  I  disappeared  in  one  direc- 
tion and  Arthur  Hastings  and  his  wheel  sped 
swiftly  away  in  the  other,  Roy  Sheldon  seated 


278  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

himself  upon  the  rock  with  his  lamp  in  his 
hand,  and  whistled  softly,  keeping  time  with 
his  heels,  for  a  full  minute ;  then  he  grew 
tired  of  doing  nothing,  jumped  off  the  rock 
and  made  a  circuit  of  it,  looking  closely  at  it 
on  all  sides.  It  had  cut  a  deep  gash  in  the 
bluff  as  it  came  down,  but  Roy  thought  the 
ditch  ought  to  have  stopped  it,  because  it  was 
lower  than  the  track.  Somehow  Roy  could 
not  bring  himself  to  believe  that  it  had  come 
down  with  speed  enough  to  run  across  a  three 
foot  ditch,  up  a  hill  that  was  eighteen  inches 
high  and  six  feet  long,  and  stop  so  squarely  in 
the  middle  of  the  track. 

"There's  something  rather  queer  about  it," 
soliloquized  the  young  wheelman,  as  he  moved 
around  the  obstruction.  "Now,  then,  what' s 
that?" 

Just  then  something  attracted  his  attention, 
and  he  bent  over  to  examine  it.  It  was  the 
print  of  a  foot  in  the  soft  earth  at  the  end  of 
one  of  the  sleepers.  Roy  placed  his  own  foot 
within  it,  and  found,  to  his  consternation, 
that  it  was  at  least  a  third  larger  than  his 
shoe.  Then  he  made  another  impression  be- 


JOE'S  WILD  RIDE.  279 

side  it,  and  the  difference  in  size  satisfied  him 
beyond  all  doubt  that  he  had  not  made  that 
suspicious  track  himself.  There  were  hob- 
nails in  the  track,  and  that  proved  that  none 
of  Roy's  party  could  have  stepped  in  that 
particular  spot,  for  there  were  no  nails  of  that 
sort  in  their  foot-gear. 

"This  rock  was  put  here  for  a  purpose," 
said  Roy ;  and  when  the  thought  passed 
through  his  mind  the  cold  chills  crept  all  over 
him.  "  There  must  have  been  a  good  many  of 
them  in  the  gang,  for  half  a  dozen  men 
couldn't  roll  so  heavy  a  weight  out  of  the 
ditch  unless  they  had  something  to  work  with. 
What's  this  and  this,  and  those  pieces  of  tim- 
ber over  there  ? ' ' 

The  longer  the  boy  continued  his  investiga- 
tions, the  more  he  found  to  confirm  the  alarm- 
ing suspicions  that  had  arisen  in  his  mind. 
The  objects  that  now  attracted  his  notice 
were  several  pieces  of  round  wood,  with  the 
bark  scratched  and  torn  from  them,  and  as 
many  sticks  of  timber  that  were  likewise  cov- 
ered with  wounds  and  abrasions.  There  were 
other  large  foot-prints  too  in  abundance — in 


280  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

fact  the  ground  about  looked  as  though  a 
large  party  of  men  had  been  at  work  there  for 
a  long  time — and  presently  the  boy  discovered 
marks  upon  the  bowlder  itself  which  might 
have  been  made  with  a  spade  or  crowbar. 

"  Were  we  all  blind  that  we  didn't  notice 
these  things  when  we  first  came  here  ?  "  said 
Roy  to  himself.  "Probably  we  were  so 
highly  excited  that  we  couldn't  notice  any 
thing  except  the  rock.  The  fiends  who  put 
this  thing  on  the  track  with  the  intention  of 
wrecking  the  train  ought  to  be  hanged  with- 
out judge  or  jury,  lam  glad  I  didn't  know 
what  I  know  now,  for  I  wouldn't  have  had  the 
courage  to  stay  here  alone." 

Just  then  the  thought  flashed  through  Roy's 
mind  that  perhaps  the  would-be  train- wreck- 
ers were  concealed  somewhere  in  the  vicinity 
waiting  for  the  time  when  they  could  descend 
into  the  gulf  and  complete  their  work,  and 
that  their  evil  eyes  might  at  that  very  moment 
be  fastened  upon  him,  while  they  were  discuss- 
ing plans  for  getting  him  out  of  their  way. 
If  Joe  and  Arthur  had  known  all  this,  would 
they  have  been  so  ready  to  dash  oif  into  the 


JOE'S  WILD  KIDE.  281 

darkness  to  warn  the  unsuspecting  engineer  of 
his  peril  ?  How  easily  one  of  those  concealed 
villains  could  have  tumbled  both  his  friends 
out  of  their  saddles  with  a  shot  from  a  re- 
volver !  And  what  had  prevented  them,  when 
the  boys  first  started  away,  from  throwing 
from  the  top  of  the  bluif  an  obstruction  upon 
the  track  that  would  have  sent  both  the 
wheelmen  to  the  ground  ?  ]STo  doubt  it  was 
because  Roy  and  his  friends  acted  with  so 
much  promptness  that  they  did  not  have  time 
to  think  of  it ;  but  hadn't  they  had  plenty  of 
time  since  then  to  recover  from  their  surprise 
and  plan  vengeance  ?  This  fear  almost  un- 
nerved Roy.  He  took  one  step  toward  his 
wheel,  but  the  thought  that  passed  through 
his  mind  was  driven  out  as  quickly  as  it  came. 
Come  what  might,  he  would  not  desert  his 
post.  He  would  stay  there  and  warn  the 
train,  if  one  of  his  companions  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  doing  it,  and  in  the  mean  time  if  those 
scoundrels  wanted  a  fight,  they  could  have  it. 
Roy's  first  care  was  to  put  his  lamp  behind 
the  rock  out  of  sight,  and  his  second  to  pull 
his  bicvcle  case  off  his  shoulder  and  take  out 


282  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

the  rifle  it  contained.  He  had  done  considera- 
ble shooting  with  it  since  he  had  been  on  the 
road,  although  it  had  not  yet  brought  him  a 
young  squirrel  for  his  dinner.  As  often  as  he 
and  his  companions  halted  for  a  rest  their  lit- 
tle weapons  were  brought  out,  and  Roy  had 
learned  by  actual  test  that  the  one  he  owned 
could  be  depended  on  to  shoot  "  right  where  it 
was  held." 

"Now  I  am  ready  for  them,"  said  Roy,  tak- 
ing his  stand  behind  the  rock  outside  the  circle 
of  light  that  came  from  the  lamp.  "If  they 
advance  along  the  road  they  had  better  make 
sure  work  of  me  at  the  start,  for  if  they  don't, 
some  of  them  will  get  hurt." 

If  the  train-wreckers  were  hidden  where 
they  could  see  him  (and  it  was  reasonable  to 
suppose  they  were),  they  must  have  taken  note 
of  Roy's  movements,  and  perhaps  they  saw 
that  he  had  a  weapon  of  some  sort  in  his  hands 
and  was  ready  to  defend  himself.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  they  did  not  molest  him,  and  the  boy 
stuck  to  his  post  until  the  glare  of  the  locomo- 
tive headlight  fell  upon  him.  The  train  was 
moving  slowly,  and  that  was  proof  enough  that 


JOE'S  WILD  EIDE.  283 

Joe  Wayring  had  warned  it ;  but  to  make  sure 
of  it,  Roy  caught  up  his  lamp  and  "  called  for 
brakes  the  best  he  knew  how."  The  engineer 
was  the  first  man  to  speak  to  him,  and  when 
Roy  called  his  attention  to  the  marks  on  the 
rock,  the  big  footprints  on  the  ground  and  the 
timbers  that  were  scattered  about,  the  brave 
fellow  turned  so  white  that  it  showed  through 
the  black  on  his  face.  He  in  turn  told  the 
conductor,  and  the  latter  at  once  threw  the 
timbers  into  the  ditch,  and  pitched  the  pieces 
of  round  wood  into  the  gulf. 

"Don't  lisp  a  word  of  it,"  he  said,  earn- 
estly. "We've  got  a  heavy,  packed  train, 
and  the  folks  would  be  scared  to  death.  Young 
fellow,"  he  added,  turning  to  give  Joe  Way- 
ring  a  hearty  slap  on  the  shoulder,  "you  have 
been  the  means  of  preventing  a  slaughter.  I'll 
bet  there  isn't  another  wheelman  in  the  State 
who  can  ride  over  that  trestle." 

"  Haw,  haw !  "  laughed  Joe.  "  I  guess  you 
haven't  seen  many  wheelmen,  have  you  ?  " 

"  Or  who  would  have  the  courage  to  attempt 
it  in  daylight,  let  alone  a  dark  night  like 
this,"  continued  the  conductor.  "  Why,  man 


284  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

alive,  it's  a  very  narrow  plank  that  was  put 
there  for  the  convenience  of  the  track- walker, 
and  the  trestle  is  sixty  feet  high  and  half  a 
mile  long." 

"  I  am  glad  I  didn't  know  that  when  I  was 
going  over  it,"  was  all  Joe  had  to  say  in  reply. 

This  is  what  I  meant  when  I  said  a  while  ago 
that  little  things  often  bring  about  great 
events.  I  now  know  that  my  master  was 
frightened  out  of  a  year's  growth  when  he 
found  himself  on  that  trestle,  but  he  had  con- 
fidence and  nerve  enough  to  go  ahead  without 
attempting  to  dismount.  It  was  that  short  in- 
terview with  the  strange  wheelman  that  did  it, 
and  made  Joe  Wayring  the  steady  rider  he 
was  that  night.  He  knew  as  well  as  anybody 
that  he  "  wobbled  too  much,"  but  he  supposed 
that  was  something  every  novice  did,  and  that 
the  fault  would  correct  itself  without  any  care 
or  trouble  on  his  part.  But  as  soon  as  his 
attention  was  called  to  it  he  promptly  set 
about  "mending  his  style,"  and  this  was  the 
result.  He  was  glad  of  it  now.  It  was  the 
only  thing  that  put  it  in  his  power  to  save 
/the  train,  for  on  the  day  he  encountered 


JOE'S  WILD  RIDE.  285 

that  strange  wheelman  he  could  not  have 
ridden  fifty  feet  on  an  eight-inch  plank  at  full 
speed  without  falling  off. 

By  this  time  all  the  trainmen  had  come  for- 
ward, accompanied  by  some  of  the  wakeful 
passengers  who  wanted  to  inquire  into  the 
cause  of  this  second  stoppage,  and  by  their 
united  efforts  the  rock  was  tumbled  harmlessly 
over  the  brink  of  the  gulf  and  the  engineer 
pulled  out  for  Dorchester,  keeping  watch  along 
the  way  for  Arthur  Hastings.  He  found  him 
about  two  miles  farther  on,  but  the  boy  was  not 
signaling,  because  the  appearance  of  the  train 
was  proof  enough  that  Joe  had  met  and 
warned  it.  Arthur  was  surprised  to  see  it  come 
to  a  stop  at  the  place  where  he  got  off  the 
track,  and  to  hear  the  engineer  shout  at  him  to 
chuck  his  bike  into  the  baggage  car  and  get 
aboard,  for  he  was  half  an  hour  behind  already. 
But  he  lost  not  a  moment  in  thinking  about  it 
after  he  saw  Joe  and  Roy  beckoning  to  him 
from  the  platform  of  one  of  the  passenger  cars, 
and  the  train  once  more  started  on  its  way, 
this  time  moving  at  a  rate  of  speed  that  gave 
me  a  faint  idea  of  the  crash  that  would  have 


286  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

followed  and  the  fearful  loss  of  life  that  would 
have  taken  place  if  it  had  come  in  contact  with 
that  bowlder. 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  story  Roy's 
wheel  told  me  during  the  run  to  Dorchester, 
and  the  one  to  which  Joe  and  Arthur  listened 
while  perched  upon  the  wood-box  in  one  of 
the  crowded  cars.  The  conductor  could  not 
give  them  a  seat,  for  every  one  was  filled  with 
weary  travelers  who  had  slumbered  serenely 
through  it  all,  and  who  when  they  awoke  at 
intervals,  and  looked  with  sleepy  eyes  toward 
the  three  dusty,  white-faced  boys  behind  the 
stove-pipe,  never  dreamed  that  one  of  them,  a 
short  half -hour  before,  held  all  their  lives  in 
his  hand.  The  conductor  knew  it  and  could 
hardly  find  words  with  which  to  express  his 
gratitude,  although  he  tried  hard  enough. 
The  young  wheelmen  conversed  in  whispers  and 
looked  frightened,  as  indeed  they  were  ;  and 
Joe  Wayring  hoped  from  the  bottom  of  his 
heart  that  no  such  responsibility  would  ever 
devolve  upon  him  again. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  fellows  want  to  go 
to  Dorchester  for,"  said  the  conductor,  who 


JOE'S  WILD  RIDE.  287 

came  into  their  car  as  soon  as  the  train  was 
fairly  under  way.  "  The  place  has  a  big  name, 
but  there  are  only  three  houses  in  it.  There's 
no  hotel  at  which  you  can  stop.  There  is  a 
boarding-house,  but  I  tell  you  plainly  that  it 
will  be  of  no  use  to  go  there,  for  old  man  Kane 
won't  let  you  in.  He  says  he  can  eat  anybody 
who  conies  along,  but  he  can't  and  won't 
sleep  'em." 

"That's  queer,"  said  Joe.  "  The  author  of 
our  road-book  has  been  through  here,  and  says 
he  got  the  best  kind  of  treatment  at  Kane's 
boarding-house." 

"Oh,  the  old  fellow  sets  a  good  table,  and 
can  be  civil  and  obliging  enough  when  he  feels 
like  it ;  but  he  won't  get  up  after  he  has  gone 
to  bed.  It's  against  his  principles." 

"  Why  do  you  stop  at  such  an  out-of-the-way 
place?" 

"Because  there's  a  horse  railroad  there  that 
connects  with  a  little  town  a  few  miles  back  in 
the  country,  and  there  are  some  people  aboard 
who  want  to  get  off.  The  depot  is  always  kept 
locked  at  night,  and  I  am  afraid  you  will  have 
to  bunk  on  the  platform  unless  you  will 


288  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

go  on  with  me.  Will  you?  I'll  bring  yon 
back." 

The  boys  thanked  him,  but  said  they  didn't 
think  that  was  the  best  thing  they  could  do. 
Their  route  ahead  was  laid  out,  and  they 
wanted  to  stick  as  closely  to  it  as  they  could. 
They  were  used  to  camping  out,  had  warm 
blankets  in  their  bundles,  and  would  just  as 
soon  sleep  on  the  platform  as  in  abed,  provided 
old  man  Kane  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  give 
them  a  good  breakfast  in  the  morning. 

"But  there's  one  thing  about  it,"  said  Joe. 
"  Every  wheelman  in  the  State  ought  to  be 
warned  that  if  he  intends  to  travel  this  route, 
he  had  better  time  his  runs  so  as  to  pass 
through  this  contemptible  little  Dorchester  in 
daylight,  unless  he  is  prepared  to  camp  out." 

Arthur  Hastings  thought  it  would  be  a  good 
plan  for  one  of  them  to  state  the  facts  of  the 
case  to  the  man  who  wrote  the  guide-book,  so 
that  he  could  have  the  warning  put  in  subse- 
quent editions. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

GOING  INTO   A   HOT  PLACE. 

"TTTHERE  have  you  started  for,  any- 
V  V  way?  "  inquired  the  conductor,  af- 
ter a  little  pause. 

Joe  replied  that  they  had  set  out  from 
Mount  Airy  to  run  across  the  State,  and  that 
when  they  reached  the  farther  end  of  their 
route  they  would  be  about  three  hundred 
miles  from  home. 

"I  suppose  your  object  is  to  have  fun  and 
see  the  country,  isn't  it  ? "  said  the  conductor. 
"Now of  course  I  don't  know  anything  about 
wheeling,  but  I  should  say  that  you  could  not 
have  selected  a  worse  route.  You'll  see  the 
wildest  bit  of  country  there  is,  but  how  much 
fun  you'll  have  I  don't  know.  After  you  leave 
Dorchester  you'll  get  into  the  mountains,  and 
then  your  road  will  be  all  up-hill." 

"But  the  ascent  is  so  gradual  that  we  can 

19  289 


290  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

easily  accomplish  it,"  said  Roy.  "  Our  road- 
book tells  us  it  is  so  very  gradual  that  we  will 
hardly  know  we  are  going  up.  We  under- 
stand that  there  is  plenty  of  sport  in  the  way 
of  hunting  and  trout  fishing  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Glen's  Falls,  and  we  intend  to  take 
our  first  rest  there,  if  we  can  find  any  one  who 
is  willing  to  board  us  for  a  few  days." 

"  And  if  we  can't  do  that,  we  shall  camp 
out,"  added  Joe.  "We  came  prepared  to 
do  it." 

"I  don't  know  much  about  hunting  and  fish- 
ing either,"  said  the  conductor.  "All  I  do 
know  is  railroading  :  but  some  of  my  friends 
used  to  spend  a  month  or  so  about  the  Glen 
every  year,  and  always  came  back  with  the 
report  that  they  had  had  the  best  kind  of  a 
time.  But  I  notice  they  don't  go  there  any 
more." 

"  What's  the  reason  ^hey  don't  ? " 

"Doesn't  your  guide-book  warn  you  that 
there  are  some  fellows  up  that  way  you  had 
better  keep  clear  of  ? "  asked  the  conductor  in 
reply. 

"It  doesn't  hint  at  such  a  thing." 


GOING  INTO  A  HOT  PLACE.  291 

"It  ought  to.  How  long  since  it  was 
written?" 

"  Two  years  ;  but  it  has  been  revised  since 
then." 

"  Couldn't  it  be  possible  that  no  change  was 
made  in  this  particular  route — I  mean  the  one 
you  are  now  taking?"  inquired  the  official. 
"A  good  many  things  have  happened  at  the 
Glen  during  the  last  two  years.  To  begin  with, 
the  town  had  over  a  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
now  it  has  hardly  a  quarter  as  many.  Take 
'em  as  a  class,  they're  a  rough  set  up  there. 
They  are  lazy  and  shiftless,  hate  work  as  bad 
as  so  many  tramps,  and  would  be  called 
tramps  if  it  \vere  not  for  the  fact  that  they 
have  permanent  abodes  most  of  the  year.  The 
rest  of  the  time  they  are  in  the  woods  shooting 
game  in  violation  of  the  law." 

"Are  there  no  officers  in  the  vicinity?" 
asked  Arthur. 

"  Oh,  there  are  officers  enough,  but  they  are 
afraid  to  do  anything  toward  bringing  the  law- 
breakers to  justice.  You  see  the  latter  are  in 
the  majority.  They  steal  timber  as  often  as 
they  feel  like  it,  go  through  every  logging 


THE   STEEL   IIOKSE. 

camp  they  find  unguarded,  and  if  you  lodge  a 
complaint  against  one  of  them,  the  whole  band 
will  turn  in  to  clear  him  by  false  swearing,  and 
then  they  will  take  satisfaction  out  of  you  by 
burning  your  mill,  barn  or  house,  and  by 
shooting  or  poisoning  your  cattle.  They're  a 
fine  lot,  I  assure  you.  and  I  shouldn't  think 
you  would  like  to  go  among  them." 

"  What  a  splendid  place  that  would  be  for 
Matt  Coyle  if  he  were  on  deck  now  !  "  ex- 
claimed Roy.  "  Why  didn't  he  hunt  up  that 
band — did  you  say  there  was  a  band  of 
them?" 

"  Yes  ;  and  I  have  heard  it  is  regularly 
organized,  and  that  when  one  of  them  has  to 
stand  trial  or  give  bonds  to  keep  the  peace 
with  those  he  has  threatened,  he  gets  help 
from  all  over  the  county." 

"  Why  didn't  Matt  hunt  up  that  band  and 
live  among  them  instead  of  going  to  such  a 
place  as  Indian  Lake  ? ' '  said  Roy. 

"Perhaps  he  wouldn't  have  got  any  inde- 
pendent guiding  in  that  part  of  the  State," 
suggested  Joe. 

"  There  are,  or  used  to  be,  plenty  of  guides 


293 

up  there,"  said  the  conductor,  "but  I  don't 
suppose  they  get  much  to  do  now.  A  man  who 
goes  into  the  woods  for  fun  doesn't  pick 
guides  from  among  a  lot  of  fellows  who  will 
rob  him  the  first  chance  they  get.  Of  course 
there  are  some  nice  people  about  the  Glen,  and 
they  will  be  glad  to  take  you  in  if  the  Buster 
band  will  let  them  do  it." 

"What  has  the  Buster  band  to  say  about 
it?"  demanded  Joe. 

"Who  are  they,  and  where  did  they  get 
that  name  ?  "  added  Roy. 

"  They  are  the  ones  I  have  been  telling  you 
about — the  lawless  people  in  the  Glen's  Falls 
neighborhood, ' '  replied  the  conductor.  ' '  They 
'bust  up '  property  when  things  don't  go  to  suit 
them,  and  that's  the  reason  they  call  them- 
selves the  Buster  band." 

"  But  what's  the  reason  they  will  not  allow 
any  of  the  nice  folks  in  town  to  board  us  if 
they  want  to  ? "  asked  Arthur. 

"Of  course  I  am  not  sure  that  they  will 
object  to  any  arrangements  you  may  be  able 
to  make  with  the  family  whose  name  I  shall 
presently  give  you,  but  I  think  they  will," 


294  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

answered  the  conductor.  "You  see,  Dave 
Daily,  the  leader  of  the  band,  was  indicted  for 
arson,  and  there's  a  warrant  out  for  him  now. 
He  and  a  companion  were  arrested  for  steal- 
ing timber  ;  but  they  got  out  of  jail  somehow 
(every  one  says  they  must  have  had  help  from 
the  outside  in  order  to  do  it),  and  that  night 
the  man  who  complained  of  them  lost  every- 
thing he  had  in  the  world.  Everything  that 
would  burn  went  up  in  smoke,  and  his  stock 
was  either  poisoned  or  shot.  After  that  Daily 
and  his  friend  took  to  the  woods,  and  Daily  is 
there  yet,  or  was  the  last  I  heard  of  him  ;  but 
the  friend  was  run  down  by  a  Middleport  of- 
ficer who  went  up  there  for  that  purpose." 

"That  was  all  right,"  said  Joe,  when  the 
conductor  paused.  "I  wish  he  had  caught 
Daily  also." 

"So  do  I;  but  it  seems  he  didn't.  What  I 
was  going  to  say  is  this  :  That  officer  went  up 
to  Glen's  Falls  on  his  wheel." 

"Ah!  That  explains  it,  and  the  matter  is 
perfectly  clear  to  me  now,"  said  Arthur. 
"You  think  that  Daily  or  his  friends  will 
think  we  are  officers  too,  and  that  they  will 


GOING  INTO   A  HOT   PLACE.  295 

tell  this  man  to  whom  you  are  going  to  direct 
us — what  did  you  say  his  name  is  ? " 

"I  didn't  say,"  answered  the  conductor, 
with  a  laugh.  "  But  his  name  is  Holmes,  and 
he  lives  on  the  road  you  will  have  to  take  to 
reach  the  town.  I  don't  know  him  personally, 
but  my  friends  who  have  been  there  say  he 
keeps  the  best  house,  and  that  he  is  the  best 
guide  for  that  neck  of  the  woods.  Yes  ;  that 
is  what  I  was  thinking  of.  Some  of  the  band 
will  be  sure  to  see  you  if  you  stop  there,  and 
they  may — mind  I  don't  say  they  will,  but 
they  may — send  him  word  to  get  rid  of  you  in 
short  order.  He'll  have  to  do  it,  for  the  board 
you  would  be  likely  to  pay  him  wouldn't  rec- 
ompense him  for  the  loss  of  his  cow,  horse,  or 
barn." 

' '  Of  course  it  wouldn'  t,"  replied  Joe.  ' '  We'  11 
state  the  case  to  him  as  plainly  as  we  know 
how,  if  we  can  find  him,  and  if  we  learn  that 
your  suspicions  are  well-grounded,  we'll  not 
ask  him  to  shelter  us." 

"  Well,  if  this  isn't  a  pretty  state  of  affairs 
I  wouldn't  say  so,"  exclaimed  Arthur,  who 
was  very  much  disgusted.  "  They  must  be  a 


THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

brave  lot  up  there  to  let  a  few  lawless  people 
keep  them  so  completely  under  their  thumbs." 

1  'But  don't  you  know  that  they  are  in  the 
minority?"  demanded  Joe. 

"Yes ;  and  a  big  one,  too,"  added  the  con- 
ductor. 

"  If  the  members  of  that  Buster  band  don't 
work,  how  do  they  live?"  inquired  Roy. 

"  They  don't  live ;  they  just  stay.  They  all 
own  a  little  land,  and  work  it  enough  to  raise 
a  few  vegetables,  like  turnips  and  potatoes, 
and  a  little  corn.  Their  meat  they  get  out  of 
the  woods.  They  will  steal  timber,  and  then 
walk  up  and  sell  it  to  the  man  to  whom  it  be- 
longs, and  who  is  generally  the  owner  of  a 
saw-mill  he  can't  afford  to  have  burned  down. 
They  sell  their  pigs,  and  by  various  other 
shifts  make  out  to  keep  themselves  in  tobacco 
and  clothes.  And  between  you  and  me,"  added 
the  conductor,  sinking  his  voice  to  a  whisper, 
"  I  believe  they  had  something  to  do  with  the 
rock  you  young  gentlemen  found  on  the 
track." 

"Is  that  the  sort  of  folks  they  are?"  ex- 
claimed Joe. 


GOING  INTO   A  HOT  PLACE.  297 

1  'Of  course  I  can't  prove  anything  against 
them,  but  I  bet  you  that  when  I  make  my  re- 
port, there'll  be  a  detective  sent  up  there  to 
look  into  the  matter.  I  understand  that  there 
are  spies  in  that  band  now,  working  in  the  in- 
terests of  law  and  order,  and  if  the  detective 
can  only  strike  one  of  them,  he  may  learn 
something.  There's  Dorchester,"  he  con- 
tinued, as  a  long  whistle  from  the  engine 
awoke  the  echoes  of  the  woods,  "and  I  must 
say  good-by.  I  don' t  want  you  to  forget  that 
you  have  made  a  friend  of  every  man  on  the 
road  by — " 

"We  should  think  you  a  mighty  queer  set 
if  we  hadn't,"  J6e  interposed.  "It's all  right. 
Any  decent  fellows  in  the  world  would  do  the 
same,  of  course,  but  it  happened  to  come  in  our 
way.  We  are  greatly  obliged  for  the  informa- 
tion and  warning  you  have  given  us." 

"You  will  change  your  route  then? "re- 
plied the  conductor,  and  the  boys  thought  he 
looked  relieved  when  he  said  it.  "I  was  sure 
you  would,  when  you  knew  what  sort  of  folks 
they  are  in  that  section  of  the  country.  Good- 
by  and  good  luck  to  you." 


298  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

When  the  young  wheelmen  stepped  upon 
the  platform  they  shook  hands  with  all  the 
trainmen,  who  wished  them  a  pleasant  trip 
and  no  end  of  fun  while  it  lasted,  and  then 
leaned  their  wheels  under  the  eaves  of  the  little 
building  that  served  as  warehouse,  operator's 
office  and  waiting-room,  and  looked  about  them. 
The  light  that  shone  from  the  conductor's  lan- 
tern, and  from  the  windows  of  the  horse-car 
standing  upon  the  branch  track,  gave  them  a 
clear  view  of  their  surroundings,  which  were  so 
cheerless  that  the  boys  wondered  how  any 
road-book  maker  could  advise  wheelmen  to  come 
that  way,  unless  he  wanted  to  have  them  fooled 
as  he  had  been  fooled  himself.  At  least  that 
was  the  way  Arthur  Hastings  expressed  it. 

"  He  probably  came  through  here  in  the  day- 
time, when  old  man  Kane  had  a  good  dinner 
ready  for  him,  and  everything  looked  dif- 
ferent," said  Joe.  "  He  wouldn't  have  had 
so  much  to  say  in  favor  of  Dorchester's  board- 
ing-house if  he  had  passed  through  in  the  night 
and  been  shut  out  of  doors." 

"  Are  we  going  to  let  what  the  conductor 
said  about  that  Buster  band  induce  us  to  change 


GOING   INTO   A  HOT  PLACE.  299 

our  route  ? "  inquired  Roy,  who,  as  soon  as  the 
train  palled  out  and  the  horse-car  disappeared 
down  the  branch  track,  began  untying  his  bun- 
dle and  taking  out  his  blankets  as  if  it  were  a 
settled  thing  that  he  and  his  companions  were 
to  camp  right  where  they  stood.  "That's  the 
question  now  before  the  house." 

"  I  stand  ready  to  yield  to  the  majority,  but 
for  myself  I  say  '  lS"o,'  "  answered  Joe. 

"  Hear,  hear !  "  cried  Arthur.  "  But  it  does 
look  dark  now  that  the  lights  have  gone,  don' t 
it  ?  To  tell  the  truth,  I  wish  that  detective  had 
not  gone  up  there  on  his  wheel.  Somehow  it 
brings  to  my  mind  all  the  stories  I  have  read 
about  the  sudden  and  mysterious  disappearance 
of  men  who  have  been  foolish  enough  to  wear 
blue  blouses  through  the  regions  where  the 
moonshiners  hang  out.  Those  interesting  peo- 
ple think  that  every  one  who  dresses  in  blue 
must  be  a  revenue  officer,  and  make  it  a  point 
to  shoot  him  from  the  bushes  without  troub- 
ling him  with  any  questions." 

"That's  a  cheerful  way  to  talk  to  homeless 
boys  who  have  nearly  sixty  miles  of  mountain 
travel  before  them,"  said  Joe,  driving  his 


300  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

knife  into  the  side  of  the  building  and  hanging 
his  lighted  lamp  upon  it.  "  That  makes  things 
look  a  little  pleasanter,  doesn't  it?  I  don't 
know  how  it  is  with  you,  but  I  am  tired  and 
sleepy,  and  I'm  going  to  lie  down." 

After  fastening  their  wheels  together  with  a 
couple  of  chains  and  padlocks,  so  that  if  any 
light-footed  prowler  happened  along  and  car- 
ried one  of  them  off  he  would  have  to  take  all, 
the  boys  spread  their  blankets  upon  the  plat- 
form, and  went  to  sleep.  Just  before  he  closed 
his  eyes  Arthur  said  he  knew  he  would  dream 
of  that  rock  and  a  train  tumbling  over  into  the 
gulf,  but  he  slept  too  soundly  to  dream  about 
anything  until  he  was  aroused  by  the  stentorian 
voice  of  old  man  Kane,  the  man  who  would  eat 
anybody  who  came  that  way  but  wouldn't  sleep 
him.  As  soon  as  he  opened  his  doors  he  saw 
the  wheels  resting  against  the  station-house, 
and  came  over  to  ask  the  boys  if  they  didn't 
think  it  about  time  to  get  up  to  breakfast. 

"All  right,"  replied  Arthur.  "We'll  be 
there  directly.  It  was  that  jolly,  good-natured 
face  of  his  that  deceived  the  author  of  our 
road-book,  and  made  him  think  Kane  was  a 


GOING   INTO  A  HOT  PLACE.  301 

bully  landlord,"  he  added,  as  the  man  turned 
away  to  hurry  up  the  breakfast.  "  If  we  had 
a  piece  of  bread  as  big  as  a  walnut  I'd  see  him 
happy  before  I  would  show  my  face  inside  the 
house  he  keeps  locked  against  belated  wheel- 
men. No  one  will  ever  come  this  route  by  my 
advice." 

But  after  he  had  bathed  his  hands  and  face  in 
the  cold  water  that  came  from  the  spring  behind 
the  house,  drank  two  big  cups  of  coffee,  and 
eaten  two  boys'  share  of  the  excellent  breakfast 
that  was  placed  before  him,  Arthur  did  not  feel 
quite  so  much  disposed  to  growl  at  old  man 
Kane.  He  voted  him  a  number  one  caterer, 
and  that  was  more  than  could  be  said  of  every 
boarding-house  keeper. 

"While  they  were  at  the  table  they  heard  a 
train  stop  at  the  station-house,  and  after  what 
seemed  a  long  delay,  they  saw  the  horse-car 
pass  the  window  with  a  lot  of  passengers 
aboard  ;  but  they  thought  nothing  of  it  until 
they  went  into  the  office,  which  was  also  the 
sitting  and  loafing  room,  and  stepped  up  to 
the  desk  to  pay  their  bill. 

"Put  that  back!     Put  that  money  back," 


302  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

exclaimed  the  landlord,  almost  fiercely.  '  'Bless 
my  heart !  I've  a  good  notion  to  come  out  from 
behind  the  desk  and  shake  the  last  one  of  you 
boys,  and  I  can  do  it  too,  old  as  I  am.  I've 
just  heard  about  it.  Why  didn't  you  wake 
me  up  last  night,  instead  of  going  to  bed  there 
on  the  platform?" 

Roy  tried  to  explain  that  they  did  not  want 
to  disturb  him  after  he  had  gone  to  bed  (he 
didn't  say  why),  and  that  their  blankets 
afforded  them  as  soft  a  bed  as  they  cared  for, 
but  the  old  man  did  so  much  talking  himself 
that  Roy  finally  gave  it  up.  He  listened  while 
the  landlord  told  that  the  men  on  the  up-train, 
as  well  as  the  passengers  they  had  seen  go  by 
the  dining-room  window,  had  brought  a  full 
report  of  last  night's  doings,  and  he  wanted  to 
give  them  a  breakfast  to  pay  them  for  it,  be- 
cause he  would  have  felt  bad  if  that  train  had 
run  into  the  rock  and  been  smashed  up. 

"  I  always  did  look  upon  wheelmen  as  a 
nuisance,"  said  he,  with  refreshing  candor. 
"They  eat  you  out  of  house  and  home,  and 
the  fifty  cents  you  charge  'em  for  it  don't  begin 
to  pay  for  the  damage  they  do ;  but  now  I 


GOIXG   INTO   A  HOT  PLACE.  303 

know  that  they  ain't  a  nuisance.  I've  seen 
that  trestle,  and  I  say  that  the  boy  who  can 
ride  over  it  in  the  dark  has  got  the  right  kind 
of  pluck  to  make  a  man  out  of  him  some 
of  these  days.  No,  sir,  I  won't  tax  you  a  cent 
for  that  breakfast ;  but  I  want  to  see  the 
chap  that  went  over  that  plank.  Which  one 
was  it 2" 

"It's  nothing  to  make  a  fuss  about,"  an- 
swered Joe,  who  knew  that  if  he  did  not  speak 
Roy  and  Arthur  would.  He  thought  the  man 
would  have  something  complimentary  to  say 
to  him ;  but  instead  of  that  he  pushed  the 
register  toward  him  with  the  request  that  Joe 
would  draw  a  line  under  his  name  so  that 
he  (Kane)  would  know  it  the  next  time  he 
saw  it. 

"Do  you  know  what  I  am  going  to  do?" 
said  he,  when  the  boy  handed  back  the  pen. 
"I'm  going  to  show  that  name  to  every  wheel- 
man who  comes  along,  and  double-dare  him  to 
go  up  to  the  trestle  and  ride  over  that  plank. 
If  he'll  do  it,  and  prove  that  he  does  it,  I'll 
give  him  all  he  can  eat  as  long  as  he  has  a 
mind  to  stay." 


304  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

It  was  right  on  the  point  of  Roy  Sheldon's 
tongue  to  inquire  :  "  And  will  you  expect  him 
to  sleep  on  the  platform  of  nights  ?"  But  in- 
stead of  that  he  said:  "Then  you  will  be 
bankrupt  in  less  than  six  months  if  many 
wheelmen  come  this  way." 

Old  man  Kane  declared  that  he  didn't  be- 
lieve a  word  of  it,  and  the  boys  went  out  on 
the  porch  and  sat  down  to  read  over  the  day's 
route,  and  fix  it  firmly  in  their  minds,  so  that 
they  would  not  be  obliged  to  refer  constantly 
to  the  guide-book.  It  was  a  short  one,  only 
twenty-six  miles,  but  it  was  all  they  would 
want  to  do  in  one  day,  because  it  was  the  worst 
part  of  the  sixty-mile  mountain  road  that  lay 
before  them.  The  next  day's  run  would  take 
them  to  Glen's  Falls,  which,  so  the  book  said, 
was  just  the  place  for  a  brain- weary  wheelman 
to  stop  and  take  a  few  days'  rest.  But  in  order 
to  reap  the  full  benefit  of  it,  he  ought  to  go  at 
once,  before  telegraph  communication  was 
opened  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  as  it  cer- 
tainly would  be  next  year. 

"As  the  book  was  written  two  years  ago 
that  means  last  year,"  said  Joe.  "  Unless  that 


GOING  INTO   A  HOT  PLACE.  305 

conductor  was  greatly  mistaken,  the  town  is 
as  much  secluded  now  as  it  was  then." 

"  More  so,  and  further  away  from  telegraphic 
communication  with  the  rest  of  the  world," 
said  Roy,  "because  that  Buster  band  has 
driven  every  one  away  from  there.  Who 
knows  but  it  will  drive  us  away  too  ?  Let's 
get  there  and  see." 

Having  taken  leave  of  old  man  Kane  and 
thanked  him  for  the  good  breakfast  he  had 
given  them,  the  boys  mounted  and  rode  away. 
Joe  Wayring  was  right  when  he  said  that 
Dorchester  probably  looked  more  cheerful  in 
broad  daylight  than  it  did  in  the  dark.  Al- 
though there  were  but  few  people  stirring,  and 
they  were  mostly  section  hands,  and  there  was 
little  business  done  except  at  train  time,  it  was 
a  pleasant  spot,  and  one  that  many  a  swelter- 
ing city  boy  would  be  glad  to  get  away  to 
during  his  summer  vacation.  The  guide-book 
said  there  was  fine  fishing  in  the  neighboring 
ponds,  and  the  boys  knew  that  squirrels  were 
abundant,  for  they  heard  them  barking  on  all 
sides  as  they  crossed  the  railroad  and  wheeled 

away  among  the  trees  on  the  other  side. 

20 


306  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

This  proved  to  be  the  hardest  day's  run 
so  far,  but  the  boys  "took  it  easy,"  stopped 
beside  every  babbling  brook  they  found,  and 
long  before  the  hands  on  their  watches  told 
them  it  was  twelve  o'clock,  every  crumb  of  the 
generous  lunch  that  old  man  Kane  put  up  for 
them  had  disappeared.  The  road  was  steeper 
than  they  expected  to  find  it,  the  log  bridges 
over  the  streams  were  not  in  the  best  of  repair, 
and  there  were  so  many  stones  on  the  hill  that 
any  attempt  at  coasting  would  have  been 
perilous.  The  house  at  which  they  intended 
to  stop  for  the  night,  provided  the  owner  did 
not  object  to  the  company  of  strangers,  looked 
very  cool  and  inviting  when  they  came  within 
sight  of  it.  It  was  nestled  among  the  trees  at 
the  farther  end  of  a  long  bridge,  there  was  a 
neat  mill  beside  it,  and  the  rumble  of  the  ma- 
chinery was  just  dying  away  as  the  boys  drew 
up  in  front  of  the  open  door. 

"Hallo  1"  said  a  voice  from  the  interior,  re- 
moving all  doubts  from  their  minds  at  once. 
"  How  many  of  you  fellows  are  there,  any- 
way? Went  down  to  New  London  t'other 
day  and  saw  as  many  as  seventy-five  or  thirty 


GOING  INTO   A  HOT  PLACE.  307 

of  you,  all  going  somewhere,  but  you're  the 
first  to  come  our  way  this  season.  Alight  and 
hitch." 

"  Thank  you  ;  but  our  horses  stand  without 
hitching,"  replied  Arthur.  "Will  it  be  con- 
venient for  you  to  keep  us  to-night  ? " 

The  dusty  miller,  following  his  voice  to  the 
door,  said  it  would  not  only  be  quite  convenient, 
but  he  would  be  glad  to  do  it,  for  he  was  lonely 
up  there  in  the  hills,  and  he  and  his  family  were 
always  pleased  to  see  new  faces.  The  first 
wheelman  who  ever  came  that  way  stopped 
with  him  for  a  week,  and  promised  to  tell  any 
who  came  after  him  to  do  the  same.  The 
miller  was  surprised  when  Arthur  produced 
the  road-book,  showed  him  his  name,  and  told 
him  that  they  had  had  him  and  his  house  in 
mind  ever  since  they  left  Mount  Airy. 

"And  do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  have 
come  that  distance  with  nothing  but  a  book  to 
guide  you  \ "  he  exclaimed.  "  Now  that  is  the 
neatest  kind  of  a  trick,  ain't  it  ?  Well,  come 
in  and  we'll  get  some  of  the  dust  off." 

That  night  after  supper,  while  they  were 
sitting  on  the  porch,  the  boys  told  Mr.  Hudson 


308  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

(that  was  the  miller's  name)  that  they  were 
going  on  to  Glen's  Falls  with  the  intention  of 
taking  a  few  days'  rest  there,  and  to  their  sur- 
prise and  relief  he  did  not  say  a  word  to  turn 
them  from  their  purpose,  as  they  were  sure  he 
would  have  done  if  the  people  in  that  neigh- 
borhood had  been  the  desperate  lot  that  the 
conductor  represented  them  to  be.  This  led 
Joe  to  believe  that  the  conductor  had  been  mis- 
informed, and  I  heard  him  say  as  much  to  his 
chums  when  the  miller  went  into  the  house 
after  his  pipe. 

"And  don't  you  believe  in  the  existence  of 
the  Buster  band  either  ? "  I  heard  Roy  ask  him. 

"  Oil,  there  may  be  lawless  men  about  Glen's 
Falls,  and  where  in  the  world  will  you  go  amiss 
of  them  ?  "  answered  Joe.  "  But  I  don't,  and 
never  have,  put  any  faith  in  that  story  about 
an  organized  band  of  outlaws  who  terrorize  the 
country,  and  roam  around  destroying  build- 
ings and  stock  when  things  do  not  go  to  please 
them.  Why,  just  think  of  the  absurdity  of 
it !  How  long  would  it  be  before  the  whole 
power  of  the  State  would  be  put  forth  to  bring 
them  to  justice  ?" 


GOING  INTO   A   HOT   PLACE.  309 

"I  never  placed  much  faith  in  the  tales  I 
have  heard  and  read  of  men  being  shanghaied 
and  taken  to  sea  against  their  will,"  said  Roy, 
with  a  wink  at  Arthur ;  "  but  I  do  now." 

"I  don't  blame  you,"  answered  Arthur, 
"and  we  may  be  quite  as  willing  to  swallow 
all  we  have  heard  about  that  Buster  band 
before  we  are  a  week  older.  I  don't  think  that 
conductor  meant  to  fool  us,  but  he  certainly 
did  exaggerate  things  and  make  mountains 
out  of  mole-hills." 

I  had  hoped  so  all  along,  and  now  I  began  to 
be  sure  of  it.  You  can  imagine,  then,  how 
astounded  and  frightened  I  was  when  I  heard 
the  miller  say  to  his  wife,  after  Joe  and  his 
friends  had  gone  upstairs  to  bed : 

"  I  really  wish  those  boys  would  keep  away 
from  Glen's  Falls,  for  I  am  afraid  they  will  get 
into  trouble  if  they  do  not.  I  suppose  I  ought 
to  tell  them  about  the  Buster  band,  who  make 
targets  of  the  officers  of  the  law,  and  destroy 
the  houses  of  those  who  complain  of  them,  but, 
Mollie,  I  am  afraid  to  do  it.  Every  dollar  I 
have  in  the  world  is  invested  right  here  beside 
this  little  stream  of  water,  and  if  I  tried  to  put 


310  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

the  boys  on  their  guard,  and  they  should  go 
up  to  the  Falls  and  repeat  what  I  said  to  them, 
how  long  do  you  think  my  buildings  would 
stand?  They're  strangers  to  me,  and  I  don't 
know  how  far  to  trust  them." 

"  And  don't  you  remember  that  the  de- 
tective who  arrested  that  friend  of  Dave 
Daily's  came  up  here  on  a  wheel?"  said  Mrs. 
Hudson.  "And  haven't  the  band  said  that 
every  man  who  comes  into  the  country  on  a 
wheel  can  make  up  his  mind  to  go  out  of  it  on 
foot?  I  think  myself  that  your  safest  plan  is 
to  keep  still.  If  you  knew  the  boys  could  be 
depended  on,  the  case  would  be  different.  I'm 
almost  sorry  you  agreed  to  keep  them  all 
night," 

"  So  am  I,"  said  the  miller.  "  I  don't  believe 
I  shall  ever  do  the  like  again." 

I  shivered  all  over  as  I  leaned  against  the 
side  of  the  house  and  listened  to  this  con- 
versation. If  my  master  had  heard  it,  I  am 
sure  he  would  have  turned  back  and  given 
Glen's  Falls  a  wide  berth. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 
ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE. 


nothing  of  the  fears  that  dis- 
i  \.  turbed  the  minds  of  the  miller  and  his 
wife  Joe  and  his  friends  slept  soundly,  and  after 
an  early  breakfast  resumed  their  journey  with 
light  hearts  ;  but  there  was  something  in  Mr. 
Hudson's  manner,  more  than  in  his  words, 
when  he  bade  them  good-by  that  made  the 
boys  wonder  if  he  had  anything  on  his  mind 
that  he  was  keeping  from  them. 

"  You'  ve  had  the  best  kind  of  luck  so  far  and 
I  hope  it  may  continue  ;  but  I  don't  know," 
said  he,  kicking  a  pebble  out  of  the  path. 
"  Looks  to  me  as  though  wheeling  through  a 
country  that  you  are  not  acquainted  with,  and 
going  among  people  you  don't  know  anything 
about,  is  mighty  risky  business.  If  I  was 
your  folks,  I'd  be  sort  o'  uneasy  till  I  saw  you 
safe  back." 

311 


312  THE  STEEL   HOKSE. 

"  I  don't  know  whether  we've  had  the  best 
kind  of  luck  so  far  or  not,"  said  Arthur,  as  the 
three  lifted  their  caps  to  the  miller's  wife  and 
wheeled  away.  "What  would  he  say  if  he 
knew  about  Roy's  long  swim  in  New  London 
harbor?" 

' '  Or  about  Joe's  wild  ride  over  that  trestle  ? " 
chimed  in  Roy.  "  Of  course  he  had  good  luck 
in  getting  over  without  a  broken  head,  but 
it  was  bad  luck  that  brought  him  into  the 
scrape." 

"Mr.  Hudson  probably  had  reference  to  the 
dangers  of  wheeling,  and  not  to  anything 
else,"  replied  Joe.  "I  wouldn't  give  a  cent 
to  go  on  a  trip  of  this  kind  if  we  did  not  pass 
through  a  strange  country  and  see  new  faces  at 
every  mile  of  the  way.  Now  for  a  coast ;  the 
first  we  have  had  since  we  struck  this  lovely 
road.  Look  out  for  heads  everybody." 

"And  for  the  corduroy  bridge  at  the  bottom 
of  the  hill,"  added  Arthur,  quoting  from  the 
guide-book. 

The  latter  faithfully  warned  them  of  all  the 
bad  places  that  were  to  be  found  in  the  road 
when  its  author  passed  that  way  two  years 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  313 

before,  but  it  was  silent  on  the  subject  of  some 
things  that  were  more  to  be  feared  than  sticks, 
stones,  and  corduroy  bridges.  They  encoun- 
tered two  of  them  about  three  o'clock  that 
afternoon,  when  they  thought  they  ought  to 
be  within  a  mile  or  two  of  Glen's  Falls.  Joe 
Wayring,  who  was  leading  the  way,  was  the 
first  to  discover  them.  They  were  vagabond 
dogs  which  came  slowly  out  of  the  thick 
bushes  on  one  side  of  the  road,  dragging  after 
them  something  that  proved  to  be  the  carcass 
of  a  freshly  slaughtered  sheep. 

Now  if  there  was  anything  in  the  world  that 
Joe  was  afraid  of  it  was  an  ugly  dog ;  and  that 
these  brutes  were  ugly  as  well  as  bold  (if  they 
hadn't  been  bold  they  would  not  have  killed 
that  sheep  in  broad  daylight)  was  quickly 
made  apparent.  The  minute  Joe  came  within 
sight  of  them  he  sounded  his  bell,  whereupon 
the  dogs  dropped  their  prey  and  raised  their 
heads  ;  but  instead  of  taking  themselves  off, 
as  my  master  thought  they  would,  they  stood 
their  ground,  snarling  and  showing  their 
white,  gleaming  fangs  as  a  welcome  to  the 
advancing  wheelman. 


314  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

"By  gracious!  They  want  a  fight!"  ex- 
claimed Joe. 

' '  All  right.  They  can  have  it,"  replied  Roy. 
"  Sheep-killing  dogs  have  no  rights  that  any 
one  is  bound  to  respect,  and  these  villains 
have  been  caught  in  the  act." 

"  Down  with  them,"  cried  Arthur,  whipping 
his  ready  rifle  from  its  case  before  his  wheel 
fairly  came  to  a  standstill.  "We've  more 
right  to  the  road  than  they  have,  and  if  they 
won't  let  us  go  by — " 

"Don't  do  anything  hasty,"  interrupted 
Joe.  "  Think  of  the  reputation  of  the  people 
to  whom  these  brutes  undoubtedly  belong, 
and  bear  in  mind  that  we've  got  to  go  through 
Glen's  Falls  or  turn  back." 

"  We  haven't  come  almost  fifty  miles  over 
the  worst  road  in  the  United  States  to  be 
turned  back  now,"  answered  Roy.  "  Did  any- 
body ever  see  uglier  looking  things,  I  wonder  ? " 
he  added,  as  the  two  yellow,  stump-tailed  dogs, 
with  their  dripping  lips  raised,  and  their 
short  ears  laid  back  close  to  their  heads, 
crouched'  upon  the  body  of  the  sheep  like 
panthers  preparing  for  a  spring.  "Let's  see 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  315 

what  effect  a  stone  will  have  upon  their  cour- 
age." 

By  this  time  the  young  wheelmen  had  dis- 
mounted ;  they  had  to,  for  the  savage  beasts 
had  possession  of  the  road.  There  was  room 
enough  on  one  side  to  run  by  them,  and  Joe 
and  his  friends  would  have  made  the  attempt 
if  they  had  had  any  reason  to  suppose  that 
the  dogs  would  remain  close  to  the  sheep  while 
they  were  doing  it ;  but  that  would  be  taking 
too  much  risk.  If  the  dogs  jumped  at  them 
while  they  were  going  by,  no  matter  whether 
they  succeeded  in  laying  hold  of  one  of  their 
number  or  not,  they  would  be  pretty  certain  to 
throw  somebody  from  his  saddle,  and  then 
there  would  be  trouble.  The  unfortunate 
sheep's  throat  looked  as  though  it  had  been  cut 
with  a  knife,  and  that  proved  that  their  long 
teeth  were  sharp.  Joe  and  Authur  were  not  in 
favor  of  beginning  a  fight  with  the  dogs,  hop- 
ing  that  if  they  were  left  alone  they  would  drag 
the  sheep  across  the  road  and  into  the  woods 
on  the  other  side  ;  but  before  they  could  say 
or  do  anything  to  prevent  it,  Roy  Sheldon  made 
one  of  his  sure,  left-hand  shots  ;  a  heavy  stone 


316  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

took  one  of  the  canine  vagabonds  plumb  in  the 
mouth  and  tumbled  him  over  backward. 

"Whoop-pee!  That  was  a  bully  shot, 
Jakey,"  yelled  Roy,  recalling  some  of  the 
incidents  of  the  first  battle  he  and  his  chums 
had  with  Matt  Coyle  and  his  family.  "Throw 
another,  Jakey.  Great  Scott !  They're  com- 
ing for  us." 

That  was  plain  enough  to  boys  who  could 
see  as  well  as  Joe  and  Arthur  could.  The 
stone  certainly  had  an  effect  upon  them,  for 
they  no  longer  stood  on  the  defensive.  They 
charged  at  once,  the  stricken  brute  leading  the 
way,  and  his  companion  keeping  close  at  his 
heels.  I  tell  you  the  sight  they  presented  was 
enough  to  frighten  anybody,  unless  his  nerves 
were  made  of  steel,  as  mine  were,  but  we  did 
not  run.  I  couldn't  without  help,  and  Joe  and 
his  chums  wouldn't.  In  less  time  than  it 
takes  to  tell  it  one  of  the  charging  brutes  was 
knocked  flat  by  a  second  stone  from  Roy's 
unerring  hand,  and  the  other  fell  with  a  bullet 
in  his  brain,  shot  fairly  in  the  eye  by  Arthur 
Hastings' s  pocket  rifle.  But  the  death  of  his 
companion  and  the  crack  of  the  cartridge  did 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  317 

not  take  the  fight  out  of  the  surviving  dog. 
Almost  stunned  as  he  was,  he  sprang  up  again 
in  an  instant,  only  to  be  floored  by  Joe  Way- 
ring.  A  second  later  Arthur's  little  rifle  spoke 
again,  and  this  time  the  dog  did  not  get  up. 
He  was  as  dead  as  the  sheep  he  had  helped  pull 
out  of  the  bushes. 

"This  is  rather  ahead  of  my  time,"  said 
Joe,  who  was  the  first  to  speak.  "I  never 
dreamed  that  domestic  dogs  could  be  so  sav- 
age. Why,  a  couple  of  wild-cats  or  panthers 
couldn'  t  have  made  a  worse  fight,  nor  fright- 
ened me  more,"  he  added,  lifting  his  cap  and 
wiping  the  big  drops  of  perspiration  from  his 
forehead.  "I  hope  this  is  the  last  of  it,  but 
I'm  afraid  it  isn't." 

Before  Joe's  friends  had  time  to  ask  him 
what  he  meant,  or  to  recover  from  the  nervous- 
ness into  which  they  had  been  thrown  by  the 
sudden  onset  of  the  sheep-killers,  they  heard 
a  great  crashing  in  the  bushes,  which  were  so 
thick  on  both  sides  of  the  road  that  one  could 
not  see  an-y  object  in  them  at  the  distance  of 
ten  feet,  and  a  heavy  voice  called  out : 

"So  you've  come  again,  have  you?    Three 


318  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

on  you  this  time  'stead  of  one.  All  right.  I'll 
be  there  directly.  I'm  coming  jest  as  fast  as 
the  bresh'n  let  me." 

"  There  comes  the  owner  of  these  dogs," 
said  Joe.  "Now  we  are  in  for  it  sure." 

"Who  cares?"  replied  Roy.  "If  he  thinks 
we  are  going  to  stand  still  and  let  his  fero- 
cious dogs  eat  us  up,  he  don't  know  us; 
that's  all." 

Meanwhile  the  noise  in  the  bushes  grew 
louder,  and  now  a  tall,  heavily  built  man 
forced  his  way  out  and  stepped  into  the  mid- 
dle of  the  road. 

"  Come  again,  have  you  ?  "  was  the  way  in 
which  he  greeted  the  boys.  "  And  brung  two 
fellers  with  you  to  help.  Wai,  you'll  need 
'em  all.  Take  me,  if  you  want  to.  See  !  "  he 
went  on  rapidly,  laying  his  rifle  upon  the 
ground  and  standing  erect  with  his  arms  spread 
out  as  if  to  show  that  he  had  no  other  weapon 
about  him.  "I'll  put  my  shooting-iron  outen 
my  hands  and  ask  you  again  to  take  me  if  you 
have  come  here  for  that  purpose.  I  double- 
dare  you  to  lay  a  finger  on  me.  Come  now  !  " 

A  blind  man  could  have  told  by  the  tones  of 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  319 

his  voice  that  the  new-comer  was  "as  full  of 
mad  as  he  could  hold";  so  very  angry  in 
fact,  that  he  scarcely  took  two  looks  at  the 
boys  to  whom  he  was  talking  until  after  he 
had  laid  down  his  rifle  and  spread  out  his 
arms.  When  he  saw  that  he  was  confront- 
ing a  trio  of  boys,  and  not  bearded  men,  he 
dropped  his  hands  and  gave  utterance  to  two 
emphatic  words ;  but  as  they  were  swear-words 
I  don't  repeat  them. 

"Who  did  you  think  we  were?"  inquired 
Joe,  who  saw  at  once  that  the  broad-shouldered 
backwoodsman  had  make  a  mistake. 

"  I  took  you  for  jest  what  I  thought  you 
was — the  detective  that  come  up  here  on  one 
of  them  two-wheeled  wagons  and  run  my  pard- 
ner  to  earth  like  a  woodchuek  in  his  hole," 
said  the  man,  nodding  at  the  bicycles.  "  But 
you  ain't,  be  you  ?" 

"  Of  course  we  are  not  officers,"  answered 
Roy.  "  We  are  tourist-wheelmen  traveling 
for  pleasure." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  man,  in  a  rather  doubtful 
tone,  as  if  he  did  not  quite  understand  what 
the  boys  were,  after  all.  Then  he  turned  his 


320  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

head  over  his  shoulder  and  shouted  at  the 
woods  :  "It  is  all  right,  boys,  and  you  can 
come  along  without  shooting.  You  see,"  he 
wyent  on,  as  another  crashing  in  the  bushes 
told  Joe  and  his  friends  that  there  were  more 
men  coming,  "  I  seen  you  from  my  place  up 
there  on  the  mounting  when  you  crossed  over 
the  brook  below,  and  I  was  kinder  laying  for 
you.  Understand  ?  These  here  fellers  are 
pardners  of  mine,"  he  continued,  as  two  stal- 
wart woodsmen  presented  themselves  to  view. 
"  They  was  laying  back  there  in  the  bresh 
where  they  had  a  fair  squint  at  you  ;  if  you'd 
a  put  a  finger  on  to  me  when  I  dropped  my  rifle 
and  told  you  to  come  on,  some  of  you  would 
have  been  deader  no\v  than  them  dogs  you 
plumped  over.  What  did  you  do  it  with  ?  I 
beared  something  pop  like  a  gun-cap,  and  over 
them  dogs  went." 

Arthur  Hastings  handed  over  his  rifle  be- 
cause he  held  it  in  plain  sight,  and  did  not 
think  it  would  be  prudent  to  do  anything  else. 
The  man  seemed  to  grow  friendly  as  soon  as  he 
was  satisfied  that  the  boys  were  not  detectives 
who  had  come  to  the  mountains  for  the  purpose 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  321 

of  arresting  him,  and  Arthur  was  afraid  that 
if  anything  were  done  to  .excite  his  rage,  he 
might  become  as  savage  as  the  dogs  from 
whose  fangs  he  and  his  chums  had  been  saved 
by  his  good  shooting. 

The  man  took  the  pocket  rifle  with  many 
exclamations  of  wonder  and  amusement,  and 
while  he  and  his  ' '  pardners' '  were  giving  it  a 
good  looking-over,  Arthur  and  his  friends 
improved  the  opportunity  to  take  an  equally 
close  survey  of  the  mountaineers  ;  but  there 
was  some  apprehension  mingled  with  their 
curiosity,  for  they  knew,  as  well  as  they  knew 
anything,  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of 
some  of  the  Buster  band.  The  first  one  who 
showed  himself  was  Dave  Daily,  the  leader 
of  the  band,  who  had  been  in  hiding  for  a  year 
or  so  to  escape  arrest. 

"  That's  a  mighty  cute  little  trick  of  a  gun," 
said  the  latter,  when  he  handed  back  the  pock- 
et rifle.  "But  you  wouldn't  like  to  bet  a 
dollar  that  she  can  beat  my  deer-killer  at  the 
distance  of  a  hundred  yards,  would  you  ?  No, 
I  don't  reckon  you  would,  because  you  would 
be  certain  sure  to  lose  your  dollar,  Do  you 

21 


THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

know  who's  talking  to  you?"  he  added,  ab- 
ruptly. 

Joe  replied  that  they  not  only  knew  his 
name,  but  that  they  had  heard  something 
about  him  down  at  Dorchester ;  and  then  he 
wondered  why  the  man  did  not  say  something 
about  the  dogs  that  were  lying  in  plain  sight. 
Did  they  belong  to  him,  and  was  he  going  to 
raise  a  fuss  with  his  friend  Arthur  for  shooting 
them  ?  If  he  did,  there  would  be  but  one  way 
out  of  the  scrape,  and  that  was  to  pay  the  man 
every  cent  he  chose  to  demand  for  the  worth- 
less brutes. 

"I'll  bet  you  didn't  hear  nothing  good  about 
us  down  Dorchester  way,"  said  Daily,  for  it 
was  he.  "But  I'll  tell  you  what  is  a  fact: 
We're  not  the  terrible  chaps  that  some  folks 
would  try  to  make  you  think  we  are.  So  long 
as  everybody  minds  their  own  business  and 
lets  us  alone,  so  long  do  we  mind  our  business 
and  let  other  folks  be.  Set  down  a  while,"  he 
added,  growing  communicative,  ' '  and  I'  11  tell 
you  jest  how  the  fuss  commenced  in  the  first 
place." 

There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  comply  with 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  323 

this  request,  for  Daily  did  not  look  or  speak 
like  a  man  who  would  take  "no"  for  an 
answer  unless  he  felt  like  it.  So  the  boys 
leaned  their  wheels  against  convenient  trees, 
seated  themselves  by  Daily's  side  under  the 
shade  of  another,  while  his  two  friends 
stretched  their  heavy  frames  upon  the  leaves 
close  by,  and  the  leader  went  on  with  his 
story. 

"  Us  and  our  folks  was  raised  right  here  in 
this  neck  of  woods,  we've  always  lived  here, 
and  we  don't  know  no  other  country  outside," 
said  he.  "  We  never  had  no  fuss  with  nobody 
so  long  as  we  was  let  alone.  We  cultivated 
our  little  craps,  shot  our  meat  in  the  woods 
when  we  wanted  it,  ketched  our  trout  in  the 
brooks,  sot  lines  through  the  ice  for  pickerel 
in  winter,  went  to  school  when  we  wanted  to, 
and  were  happy  like  the  Injuns  was  before  the 
white  man  come  to  this  country  and  drove 
them  out.  First  thing  we  knew,  some  fellers 
down  in  Washington,  wherever  that  is,  kicked 
up  a  war  with  somebody  else,  and  sent  word  to 
our  folks  that  they'd  got  to  come  and  help 
fight  it  out.  Well,  they  wouldn't  do  it,  our 


324  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

folks  wouldn't,  because  it  wasn't  their  fight, 
they  hadn't  no  hand  in  getting  it  up,  they 
didn't  care  which  one  whipped,  and  so  they 
said  they'd  stay  to  home.  Then  what  does 
them  big  fellers  in  Washington  do  but  send  an 
officer  of  some  sort  up  here  to  take  down  the 
names  of  all  of  us,  except  the  little  boys,  so't 
they  could  be  drafted  into  the  army.  Our 
folks  told  him  he  wasn't  wanted  here  and  that 
he'd  better  go  home,  but  he  wouldn't,  and  so 
they  run  him  out  and  everybody  like  him  who 
came  here  afterwards." 

"In  short,  you  resisted  the.  draft,"  said 
Joe. 

"You're  right  we  did,  and  we'll  do  it 
again,"  said  Daily,  in  savage  tones.  "  When- 
ever we  raise  a  fight  amongst  ourselves,  we 
stick  to  it  till  one  or  t'other  gets  licked  ;  but 
we  don't  take  up  outsiders'  quarrels.  Well, 
that  was  where  the  fuss  commenced,  and  for 
as  much  as  four  years  our  folks  had  to  keep 
hid  in  the  mountings  so't  them  drafting  offi- 
cers couldn't  get  a  hold  of  'em.  When  the 
war  was  over  we  thought  we  should  have  peace 
and  be  let  alone  like  we  was  before  ;  but  we 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  325 

wasn't.  Some  smart  Alecks,  who  had  been 
elected  to  go  to  the  Capital,  and  who  had  never 
been  up  here,  passed  a  law — without  once  ask- 
ing us,  mind  you — that  deer  shouldn't  be 
killed  at  such  and  such  times  ;  that  trout 
mustn'  t  be  ketched  only  jest  when  they  said 
so  ;  and  that  if  we  didn't  give  some  heed  to 
them  laws,  they  would  take  us  up  and  put  us 
in  jail.  Well,  they  tried  it,  and  how  did  they 
come  out  ?  Tell  me  that,  will  you  ?" 

"At  the  little  end  of  the  horn,"  said  one 
of  the  "pardners,"  who  had  thus  far  kept 
silent. 

"  You're  right  they  did,  Spence  ;  at  the  lit- 
tle end  of  the  horn,"  exclaimed  Daily.  "And 
that's  the  way  everybody  will  come  out  who 
takes  it  upon  himself  to  make  laws  for  us. 
We're  free  Amerikin  citizens  and  we  mean  to 
keep  so.  We  don't  ask  no  outsiders  to  make 
laws  for  us,  because  we  can  take  care  of  our- 
selves. We  kept  right  along  jest  as  we  had 
always  been  doing,  shooting  deer  whenever  we 
wanted  the  meat  (violating  the  law  they  called 
it),  and  one  night  Zeb  Harris  and  me  was  took 
outen  our  beds  and  slapped  into  the  jail  down 


326  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

at  Macliias.  You  see  we  didn't  have  no  jail 
up  here  at  Glen's  Falls,  because  we  never 
needed  such  a  thing.  We  knew  well  enough 
who  it  was  that  complained  of  us,  for  our 
friends  kept  us  posted  ;  so  I  writ  him  a  little 
letter  telling  him  what  Zeb  and  me  allowed  to 
do  as  soon  as  we  got  out.  We  did  get  out 
pretty  quick,  and  somehow  everything  hap- 
pened to  him  jest  as  we  said  it  would.  While 
I  was  in  jail  I  writ  to  the  papers  about  it,  so't 
the  folks  outside  could  know  how  we  had  been 
treated  and  trod  upon,  and  all  my  pieces  was 
published  jest  as  I  writ  'em.  Don't  believe  it, 
do  you?"  said  Daily,  thrusting  his  hand  into 
an  inside  pocket  and  pulling  out  a  greasy  note- 
book. "  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I  can 
write  as  well  as  anybody,  even  if  I  haven't  had 
much  schooling,  and  when  it  comes  to  poetry, 
I  don't  give  in  to  no  living  man  on  top  of  the 
broad  earth.  Look  at  that,  and  see  if  you  can 
beat  it  with  all  your  education." 

As  Daily  said  this  he  placed  in  Roy  Shel- 
don's hands  a  clipping  from  a  newspaper, 
with  the  request  that  he  would  "  read  her  out 
loud  so't  everybody  could  hear  it."  The  boy 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  327 

found  that  it  was  going  to  be  a  task  to  >ead  it 
at  all,  for  the  paper  had  been  so  often  and  so 
roughly  handled  that  in  some  places  the  words 
were  quite  obliterated.  The  poem,  if  that  was 
the  right  name  for  the  chief  law-breaker's  effu- 
sion, was  nearly  a  column  in  length,  and  it  re- 
quired no  little  effort  on  Roy's  part  to  make  out 
the  first  two  verses  of  it  They  ran  as  follows : 

"  it  was  in  the  town  of  glens  fals 
as  you  shal  understand 
thair  lived  a  crowd  of  young  men 
thay  was  cald  the  buster  band 
and  thay  was  accused  of  menny 
a  bad  deed  let  them  be  gilty  or  not 
but  thay  hunted  deer  the  year  round 
and  for  the  wardens  made  it  hot 

thair  was  one  young  man  among  them 

the  wardens  all  knew  wel 

and  by  this  felows  rifl 

thair  was  menny  a  fine  deer  fel 

he  hunted  upon  an  old  stream 

i  would  have  you  all  to  know 

and  sed  that  that  was  one  place 

the  wardens  dast  not  go  " 

**  What  was  the  reason  the  wardens  dared 
not  go  there?"  inquired  Arthur,  when  Roy 
handed  back  the  paper  declaring  that  the 
letters  were  so  dim  he  could  not  make  sense 


328  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

out  of  the  rest  of  it.  "What  were  they  afraid 
of?" 

"Of  me.  I  was  up  there,"  answered  Daily, 
who  seemed  to  think  he  had  done  something 
very  brave  when  he  concealed  himself  in  the 
woods  and  sent  word  back  to  the  settlement 
that  he  would  fire  upon  the  first  officer  who 
came  along  his  trail  to  arrest  him.  "I  tell 
you  it  wasn't  healthy  around  where  I  was 
about  that  time  for  anybody  but  me  and  my 
friends.  If  you  don't  believe  it,  read  that." 

With  the  words  another  choice  bit  of  compo- 
sition was  thrust  into  Roy's  hand.  It  proved 
to  be  a  warning  to  one  of  the  recently  ap- 
pointed wardens  that  the  Buster  band,  having 
"commenced  the  fun"  by  burning  the  house 
of  the  man  who  had  dared  to  enter  complaint 
against  Dave  Daily  and  his  friend  Zeb  Harris, 
would  keep  it  up  by  visiting  the  home  of  the 
warden  if  he  did  not  at  once  throw  up  his 
office  and  let  unlawful  deer-hunters  alone. 
There  was  still  a  third  clipping  which  proved 
of  more  interest  to  the  boys  than  either  of  the 
others,  for  it  related  to  the  detective  who  had 
come  to  Glen's  Falls  on  his  wheel.  It  was 


ARTHUR'S  EEADY  RIFLE.  329 

addressed  to  the  very  man  whose  house  they 
had  intended  to  make  their  headquarters  dur- 
ing their  stay  at  the  Falls.  It  ran  thus : 

"Mr.  Jon  Homes  : — if  you  keep  that  black 
whiskered  felow  with  the  nee  britches  about 
your  house  any  longer  you  will  have  roast  pig 
to  and  in  short  order  we  know  he  is  a  detek- 
tive  be  cause  he  has  been  talking  with  one  of 
our  boys  who  he  thinks  is  a  spy  on  us  in  the 
pay  of  what  you  call  the  law  and  order  sosi- 
ation  but  thair  ant  no  spies  amongst  our  crowd 
i  want  you  to  understand  git  rid  of  him  for  if 
you  dont  you  will  be  burnt  out  before  a  week 
goes  by  we  have  started  the  fun  and  we  will 
keep  it  up  we  mean  bisness  git  rid  of  him  and 
your  all  rite  if  you  dont  down  she  comes  by 
the  time  you  git  this  we  shal  have  taken  some 
of  your  stock  as  proof  that  we  mean  bisiness. 
from  a  frind  remember." 

By  the  time  Roy  Sheldon  had  finished  read- 
ing this  precious  document  he  and  his  two 
friends  were  so  angry  that  they  could  scarcely 
refrain  from  telling  Dave  Daily  what  they 
thought  of  so  mean  and  cowardly  a  villain  as 
these  productions  of  his  proved  him  to  be. 
Joe  Wayring  showed  very  plainly  that  he 


330  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

had  had  quite  enough  of  this  nonsense.  He 
got  upon  his  feet,  brushed  the  leaves  from 
his  clothes,  and  remarked  that  it  was  high 
time  he  and  his  chums  were  moving. 

"What's  your  hurry?"  inquired  Dave. 
"  You  can't  find  no  better  company  than  we  be 
anywhere  about  the  Falls.  Where  do  you 
stop  when  you  get  there,  seeing  there  ain't  no 
hotel  to  put  up  at  ? " 

"We're  not  going  to  put  up  at  the  Falls," 
replied  Joe.  "We  shall  stop  there  just  long 
enough  to  buy  a  glass  of  milk  or  beg  a  drink 
of  water  of  somebody,  and  then  we  shall 
take  to  the  road  for  a  ten-mile  run  before 
dark." 

"Those  dogs  over  there,"  said  Roy,  jerking 
his  head  toward  the  prostrate  animals,  "  dis- 
puted the  right  of  way  with  us,  and  when  I 
tried  to  drive  them  out  of  the  road  they  came 
at  us  with  such  fury  that  we  had  to  shoot 
them  in  self-defense.  I  hope  they  don't  be- 
long to  any  of  you  ? " 

Roy  said  this,  not  because  he  cared  a  straw 
who  owned  the  worthless  curs,  but  for  the  rea- 
son that  he  felt  some  curiosity  to  know  why 


ARTHUR'S  READY  RIFLE.  331 

Daily  and  his  companions  were  so  very  indif- 
ferent regarding  them  and  their  fate.  He  had 
looked  for  a  row  the  minute  the  men  saw  the 
bodies  of  the  four-footed  vagabonds ;  but 
instead  of  that,  the  woodsmen  had  not  re- 
ferred to  the  matter  since  they  asked  to 
see  the  weapon  with  which  the  shooting  was 
done. 

"N~o;  the  dogs  don't  belong  to  none  of  us 
nor  the  sheep,  neither,"  answered  Daily. 
"Do  you  see  them  letters  on  the  critter's  head 
all  mixed  up  together?  That's  Holmes' s 
mark,  and  them  dogs  or  any  others  are  wel- 
come to  kill  all  the  sheep  he's  got,  for  all  we 
care.  We  don't  like  him  none  too  well,  for  he 
harbored  that  detective  till  we  told  him  to 
shove  him  out,  and  he  would  be  one  of  the 
wardens  if  he  wasn'  t  afraid.  Matt'  11  be  staving 
blind  mad  when  he  hears  of  it,  and  mebbe 
you'd  best  keep  outen  his  way  when  you  get 
started,  for  he'll  make  you  pay  ten  times  what 
the  critters  was  fairly  worth.  He  sets  a  heap 
of  store  by  them,  for  he  brought  'em  up  here 
for  watch-dogs  to  tell  him  when  there  was 
anybody  coming  to  his  shanty." 


332  THE  STEEL   IIOKSE. 

"  Did  you  say  Matt  would  be  mad  ? 
Joe,  with  a  strange  look  on  his  face. 
wTho  ?  What  is  his  other  name  ? " 

"His  whole  name  is  Matt  Coy le,"  replied 
Daily. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
MR.  HOLMES' s  WARNING. 

was  a  surprise,  and  for  some  reasons 
it  was  a  most  disagreeable  one.  Of 
course  Joe  Wayring  and  his  chums  were  not 
sorry  that  their  old  enemy,  Matt  Coyle,  had 
escaped  with  his  life  when  the  canvas  canoe 
was  snagged  and  sunk  in  Indian  River,  but 
they  were  sorry  that  they  had  stumbled  upon 
him  in  this  unexpected  way.  Beyond  a  doubt 
Matt's  failure  to  make  himself  master  of  the 
six  thousand  dollars  that  had  been  stolen  from 
the  Irvington  bank,  taken  in  connection  with 
the  loss  of  all  his  worldly  goods  and  the  im- 
prisonment of  his  wife  and  boys,  had  had  an 
effect  upon  him,  and  if  such  a  thing  were  possi- 
ble, Matt  hated  Joe  and  his  friends  with  greatly 
increased  hatred.  The  fact  that  the  boys  were 
in  no  way  to  blame  for  his  misfortunes  would 
not  make  the  least  difference  to  Matt  Coyle. 
His  bad  luck  began  on  the  very  day  he  made 

333 


334  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

the  acquaintance  of  the  Wayring  family,  he 
looked  upon  Joe  as  his  evil  genius,  and  the 
young  wheelmen  knew  well  enough  that  unless 
they  got  out  of  the  Glen's  Falls  neighborhood 
before  Matt  learned  they  were  there,  they  would 
surely  find  themselves  in  trouble  of  some  sort. 
"His  whole  name  is  Matt  Coyle,"  repeated 
Daily.  "  He  was  the  best  guide,  boatman  and 
hunter  down  the  Injun  Lake  wray,  but  for  some 
reason  or  other  the  rest  of  the  men  who  were  in 
that  business  didn't  take  to  him,  and  so  they 
clubbed  together  and  drove  him  out.  That 
wouldn't  have  been  so  very  hard  on  Matt,  for 
Ameriky  is  a  tolerable  big  country  and  there's 
plenty  of  places  for  a  guide  and  hunter  to  go  ; 
but  they  had  to  go  and  smash  up  everything 
he  had  so  't  he  couldn't  stay.  They  even  took 
all  his  money  and  his  rifle  and  clothes  away 
from  him,  and  turned  him  out  to  starve.  He 
made  his  way  up  here  by  accident,  and  he's 
been  living  with  us  ever  since.  He's  a  good 
chap,  and  when  he  told  me  his  story,  I  said  to 
him  that  if  I  was  in  his  place,  I  wouldn't  sleep 
sound  till  every  man  and  boy  who  had  had  a 
hand  in  mistreating  me  was  burned  outen 


MR.  HOLMES' s  WARNING.  335 

house  and  home.  Why,  he  lost  six  thousand 
dollars  in  hard  money,  Matt  did ;  all  the 
savings  of  years  of  honest  work." 

"  But  he  knows  a  way  to  get  it  all  back  and 
more  too,"  said  one  of  Dave's  partners.  "  We 
expect  him  home  with  some  of  the  boys  to-day, 
and  when  he  comes  we'll  all  be  rich." 

"  Spence,  you  talk  too  much  for  a  little 
man."  said  Dave,  sternly.  "  Matt  won't  take  it 
kind  of  you  telling  all  his  secrets.  He  warned 
us  all  not  to  say  anything  about  it." 

"Fellows,  we  muse  be  going,"  exclaimed 
Joe.  "  I  know  that  everything  these  men 
have  to  say  is  full  of  interest,  but  listening  to 
stories  will  not  take  us  to  our  journey's  end. 
By  the  way,  how  far  is  the  railroad  from  here  ? 
1  mean  the  one  that  runs  through  Dor- 
chester?" 

"Fifteen  miles,  or  such  a  matter,"  answered 
Daily.  "But  you  couldn't  never  get  there. 
The  woods  is  so  thick  you  couldn't  take  them 
wagons  through.  Your  best  plan  is  to  stick  to 
the  road.  Where  did  you  say  you  was  going 
to  stop  to-night  ? " 

"  If  we  stay  here  much  longer  we'll  have  to 


336  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

stop  in  town,"  replied  Joe.  "  We  don't  want 
to  do  that,  so  we  shall  keep  going  and  get  as 
close  to  a  level  country  as  we  can  before  the 
dark  overtakes  us.  Good-by." 

This  was  a  moment  that  all  the  boys  had 
been  looking  forward  to  with  many  misgiv- 
ings. Would  Daily  and  his  men  permit  them 
to  leave  when  they  got  ready  ?  was  a  question 
that  had  often  shaped  itself  in  their  minds,  and 
which  would  now  be  answered  in  a  very  few 
seconds.  To  their  immense  relief  the  men 
who  had  been  ready  to  shoot  them  half  an  hour 
before,  showed  no  disposition  to  molest  them 
or  their  property.  They  might  be  thieves  and 
law-breakers,  but  they  were  not  highwaymen. 
They  said  "  So-long"  very  cordially,  and  saw 
the  boys  mount  and  ride  away. 

"Now  here's  a  mess,  or  will  be  if  we  don't 
make  the  best  time  we  know  how  before 
night  comes,"  said  Arthur,  when  the  first  turn 
in  the  road  took  them  out  of  sight  of  Dave 
Daily  and  his  friends.  "I  don't  know  when  I 
have  been  more  astounded  than  I  was  when 
that  outlaw  pronounced  Matt  Coyle's  name." 

"  Didn't  that  juryman  say  that  he  believed 


MR.  HOLMES' s  WARNING.  337 

Matt  would  some  day  turn  up  alive  and  as  full 
of  mischief  as  ever?"  said  Roy  Sheldon. 
"And  didn't  we  say  that  the  Glen's  Falls 
neighborhood  would  be  just  the  place  for  him 
if  he  were  on  deck?  Well,  he's  here.  He 
must  have  had  a  time  of  it  tramping  all  the 
way  from  Sherwiii's  Pond  through  the  woods. 
But  then  I  suppose  he  is  used  to  such  things." 

"He  is  at  home  wherever  night  overtakes 
him,"  said  Arthur.  "  But  I  shouldn't  think 
he  would  stick  to  the  woods  when  there  were 
so  many  roads  handy." 

"  Wouldn't  he  want  to  keep  out  of  sight  of 
the  officers  who  were  looking  for  the  money 
he  was  known  to  have  in  his  possession  ?  So 
those  six  thousand  dollars  were  the  fruits  of 
his  honest  toil,  were  they  ?  And  Matt  was  the 
best  guide,  boatman,  and  hunter  in  the  Indian 
Lake  country  ?  That's  news  to  me." 

"It's  news  to  all  of  us,"  answered  Joe; 
"but,  to  my  notion,  there's  worse  behind  it. 
Where  has  Matt  been  with  those  men  who  are 
going  to  make  the  Buster  band  rich  when  they 
return?" 

"That's  so,"  exclaimed  Arthur.     "Where 

22 


338  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

has  he  ?  I  noticed  you  inquired  the  distance 
to  the  railroad,  and  that  made  me  think 
you  were  disturbed  by  the  same  suspicions  I 
was.  Do  you  believe  Matt  and  his  crowd  were 
down  there,  and  that  they  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  rock  we  found  on  the  track  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  else  to  think,"  replied 
Joe.  "It  was  the  way  those  men  acted  rather 
than  what  they  said  that  aroused  my  suspi- 
cions. Matt  has  been  rich  once,  that  is  to  say, 
he  has  had  the  handling  of  more  money  than 
he  will  ever  make  by  his  own  labor,  and  isn'  t 
it  natural  to  suppose  that  when  he  lost  it  he 
set  his  wits  at  work  to  conjure  up  some  plan  to 
get  more  ?  A  man  who  will  do  the  things  Matt 
Coyle  has  done  and  threatened,  will  do  worse 
if  he  gets  the  chance.  It's  time  that  fellow 
was  shut  up.  The  next  time  he  tries  to  wreck 
a  train  he  may  be  successful." 

This  was  all  the  boys  had  to  say  on  the  sub- 
ject, but  it  was  easy  enough  to  see  that  they 
had  resolved  to  put  an  officer  on  the  squatter's 
track  at  the  first  opportunity.  But  then  there 
was  Tom  Bigden,  with  whose  doings  I  was 
by  this  time  pretty  well  acquainted.  Would 


ME.  HOLMES' s  WARNING.  339 

they  want  him  disgraced  by  the  revelations 
Matt  would  be  sure  to  make  if  he  were  brought 
before  a  court  to  be  tried  for  his  crimes  ?  As 
Roy  Sheldon  afterward  remarked,  a  big  load 
would  have  been  taken  off  Tom  Bigden's  shoul- 
ders if  Matt  Coyle  had  never  been  born. 

As  soon  as  Daily  and  his  men  had  been  left 
out  of  sight  Arthur  Hastings  began  making  the 
pace  ;  and  he  made  it  so  rapid  that  scarcely 
twenty  minutes  elapsed  before  they  passed 
through  an  open  gate  and  drew  up  before  the 
back  door  of  Mr.  Holmes'  s  house.  They  knew 
it  when  they  saw  it  ;  and  as  they  looked  at  all 
the  evidences  of  thrift  and  comfort  with  which 
it  was  surrounded,  they  wished  most  heartily 
that  Daily  and  all  the  rest  of  the  Buster  band 
might  be  brought  to  justice  and  that  speedily. 

"Boys,  we'll  not  put  this  fine  property  in 
jeopardy  by  stopping  here,"  said  Joe,  in  alow 
tone.  ' '  We'  d  be  worse  than  heathen  if  we  did, 
and  Mr.  Holmes  ought  to  kick  us  off  the  place 
for  hinting  at  such  a  thing.  Good-evening, 
sir,"  he  added,  touching  his  cap  to  a  gray- 
headed  man  in  his  shirt  sleeves  who  just  then 
came  around  the  corner  with  a  bucket  of  water 


340  THE   STEEL   HOESE. 

in  his  hand.  "Have  you  a  pitcher  of  milk  to 
spare,  and  can  you  give  us  a  good  big  lunch  to 
eat  along  the  way  ? " 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  can  do  that,"  replied  the  man, 
whose  countenance  grew  clouded  when  he  saw 
the  boys  getting  off  their  wheels,  but  brightened 
again  at  once  when  he  learned  that  they  did 
not  intend  to  ask  him  for  lodgings.  "Plenty 
of  milk  and  provender  to  spare,  but  no  beds 
made  up." 

"  Mr.  Holmes,  we  understand  you  perfectly," 
Joe  hastened  to  reply.  "  We  know  just  how 
you  are  situated,  we  sympathize  with  you,  and 
we  wouldn't  stay  in  your  house  to-night  if  we 
knew  your  doors  were  open  to  us.  We  met 
Daily  up  the  road  a  piece." 

"  You  did  ?  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Holmes.  "  And 
did  you  tell  him  you  were  going  to  stop  here  ? " 

"  We  simply  told  him  we  should  stop  some- 
where in  town  long  enough  to  buy  a  glass  of 
milk  or  beg  a  drink  of  water,  and  he  raised  no 
objection  to  it.  I  think  you  ought  to  know 
that  Matt  Coyle's  dogs  have  been  on  the  war- 
path again,  and  you  have  lost  another  sheep. 
Daily  said  it  was  in  your  mark." 


ME.  HOLMES' s  VTAENING.  341 

"  That's  too  bad;  too  bad,"  said  the  old  man, 
who  had  long  ago  ceased  to  hope  for  better 
times.  "  If  they  keep  on  they  will  kill  all  my 
stock.  The  members  of  the  Buster  band  don't 
always  go  into  the  woods  after  meat  now.  The 
pastures  are  handier,  and  a  sheep,  calf,  or 
nice  young  heifer  is  easier  to  shoot  than  deer. 
We  can't  prove  anything  against  them,  and 
are  afraid  to  prosecute  if  we  could." 

"  Those  dogs  will  never  kill  any  more  sheep 
for  you,"  said  Roy.  "  They  wouldn't  give  us 
the  road  and  we  shot  them.  They're  deader 
than  herrings." 

I  noticed  that  Roy  always  said  "we"  when 
speaking  of  this  little  circumstance.  If  any- 
thing unpleasant  grew  out  of  it,  he  did  not 
mean  that  his  friend  Arthur  should  bear  all 
the  blame  or  take  all  the  punishment.  Mr. 
Holmes' s  face  grew  bright  again,  but  he  showed 
a  little  anxiety  when  he  asked  : 

"Did  Daily  see  you  do  it,  or  does  he  know 
anything  about  it  ?  Then  I  am  surprised  that 
he  didn' t  make  you  pay  for  the  dogs.  Say," 
he  went  on,  in  a  more  guarded  tone,  "where 
are  you  going  to  stop  to  night?" 


342  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

Joe  answered  that  they  intended  to  camp  in 
the  woods,  and  hoped  he  could  furnish  them 
grub  enough  for  supper  and  breakfast  the 
next  morning. 

"Of  course  I'll  do  that,"  said  Mr.  Holmes. 
"  But  take  my  advice  and  don't  light  a  fire. 
The  owner  of  the  dogs  you  shot  is  a  savage. 
He  gets  around  at  night  as  well  as  in  the  day- 
time, and  since  he  came  here  last  fall,  he  has 
put  more  mischief  into  the  Buster  band  than 
they  ever  had  in  them  before,  and  that  was 
quite  unnecessary.  They  never  thought  of 
shooting  stock  for  their  own  use  before  he  went 
among  them,  but  they  often  do  it  now.  They 
seem  to  take  delight  in  breaking  open  every 
door  that  is  fastened  of  nights,  no  matter 
whether  they  want  to  steal  anything  or  not. 
I'd  give  something  to  know  positively  what 
that  man  Coyle  intended  to  do  with  the 
spades,  crowbar  and  axes  he  took  out  of  my 
tool-house  the  other  night." 

"  What  do  you  think  he  meant  to  do  with 
them?"  inquired  Arthur,  who  thought  from 
the  way  the  man  spoke  that  he  had  his  sus- 
picions. 


MR.  HOLMES' s  WARDING.  343 

"I'm  almost  afraid  to  speak  it  out  loud,  for 
it  don't  seem  possible  that  any  man  can  be  so 
wicked,"  replied  Mr.  Holmes.  "The  lawless 
acts  of  the  Buster  band  have  driven  nearly 
everything  away  from  us.  but  we've  got  the 
post-office  left,  and  last  night  I  got  my  weekly 
papers  out  of  it.  In  one  of  them  I  read  that  a 
terrible  railroad  accident  had  been  averted  by 
the  coolness  and  courage  of  a  wheelman  who 
rode  across  a  trestle  in  the  dark  to  warn  the 
engineer  of  an  approaching  train  that  there 
was  a  rock  on  the  track." 

"He  rode  over  a  trestle  in  the  dark?"  ex- 
claimed Roy,  who,  impatient  as  he  was  to  hear 
what  else  Mr.  Holmes  had  to  say,  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  to  torment  Joe  Wayring. 
"  Now  that's  what  I  call  pluck." 

"That  is  what  the  papers  call  it  too,"  said 
Mr.  Holmes.  "  Well,  when  the  trainmen  came 
to  look  into  things  they  found  that  that  rock 
didn'  t  get  upon  the  track  by  accident,  but  had 
been  dug  out  of  its  bed  on  the  top  of  the  bluff 
and  rolled  there.  Since  then  that  bluff  has 
been  examined  by  detectives  in  the  employ  of 
the  railroad,  who  found  there  a  couple  of 


344  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

spades,  an  axe  and  a  crowbar  all  marked  J.  H. 
Those  are  the  initials  of  my  name,  and  they 
are  on  every  tool  I've  got.  They're  in  New 
London  now,  and  if  I  thought  anything  would 
come  of  it,  I  would  run  down  and  look  at  them. 
If  they  are  mine,  that  man  Coyle  was  the 
leader  of  the  gang  who  tried  to  wreck  the 
train.  At  least  he  stole  the  tools,  and  I  say 
he  is  the  leader  because  the  Buster  band  never 
would  have  thought  of  such  a  thing  if  he  had 
not  put  it  into  their  heads." 

" How  do  you  know  he  stole  your  tools?" 
asked  Roy,  in  some  excitement. 

"Because  I  saw  the  prints  of  his  feet  in 
front  of  the  door  of  the  shop.  They're  as  big 
as  all  out-doors,  and  his  shoes  are  so  nearly 
torn  to  pieces  that  it  is  a  wonder  to  me  how  he 
can  keep  them  on.  Mebbe  it's  a  little  thing  to 
build  so  much  upon,  but  I  know  I  am  right," 
said  the  old  man,  earnestly.  "If  you  could 
see  that  track  once  you  would  recognize  it 
again  the  minute  you  saw  it." 

Now,  when  it  was  too  late  to  make  amends 
for  the  oversight,  Roy  Sheldon  proceeded  to 
take  himself  severely  to  task  for  not  making  a 


MR.  HOLMES' s  WARNING.  345 

closer  examination  of  those  big  footprints  he 
had  seen  about  the  rock.  If  Matt  Coyle's 
track  was  there  he  could  have  picked  it  out 
from  among  the  rest,  for  hadn't  he  and  his 
companions  taken  a  good  look  at  it  on  the 
night  Mr.  Swan  "surrounded"  Matt's  camp, 
and  Matt  crept  up  in  their  rear  and  stole  all 
their  boats?  That  "hoof"  of  his,  as  Mr. 
Swan  called  it,  had  "  given  the  squatter 
away"  on  one  occasion,  and  seemed  in  a  fair 
way  to  do  it  again.  Evidence  that  Matt  was 
one  of  those  who  had  tried  to  wreck  the 
train  was  accumulating  with  encouraging 
rapidity.  No  doubt  he  and  his  gang  had  ex- 
pected to  bring  a  rich  harvest  out  of  that  gulf 
after  the  sleeping  passengers  had  been  plunged 
into  it,  and  that  was  what  Daily's  companion 
meant  by  saying  that  Matt  would  make  them 
all  wealthy  when  he  came  back.  But  what 
would  they  say  when  they  learned  that  he  had 
not  brought  a  cent  with  him  ? 

"  Of  course  it  is  not  my  place  to  offer  advice, 
Mr.  Holmes,"  said  Arthur,  at  length,  "but  I 
really  think  it  would  be  a  good  plan  for  yon  to 
go  to  the  city  and  look  at  those  tools.  If  they 


346  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

are  yours  you  can  say  so,  and  may  be  the 
means  of  breaking  up  this  nest  of  ruffians. 
There'll  be  a  detective  sent  up." 

"But  I  don't  want  one  sent  here,"  ex- 
claimed Mr.  Holmes.  "I'd  be  afraid  to  have 
him  around,  for  the  minute  he  went  away  I'd 
lose  everything  I've  got." 

"He  need  not  come  near  you,"  replied 
Arthur. 

"  And  he  need  not  come  on  a  wheel,  either," 
added  Joe.  "If  he  does,  he  may  get  some  in- 
nocent tourist  into  trouble.  Let  him  be  a  tramp 
or  a  fugitive  from  justice,  if  you  please." 

"  That's  the  idea,"  interrupted  the  old  man, 
excitedly.  "  Young  fellow,  your  head's  level. 
That  would  be  his  game,  if  he  would  only  con- 
sent to  play  it,  for  fugitives  and  tramps  are 
the  ones  the  Buster  band  always  receive  with 
open  arms." 

"  That  is  what  I  thought.  Well,  they  have 
a  good  one  now,  and  what's  more,  they  must 
like  him,  for  Daily  said  Matt  was  a  fine  fellow  ; 
or  something  like  that,"  soliloquized  Joe  He 
did  not  utter  the  words  aloud,  for  he  wasn'  t  sure 
it  would  be  prudent  to  tell  Mr.  Holmes  that  he 


MR.  HOLMES' s  WARNING.  347 

and  his  two  friends  were  better  acquainted 
with  Matt  Coyle  than  anybody  in  the  Glen's 
Falls  country.  If  they  could  help  it,  the  boys 
did  not  mean  to  tell  who  they  were  or  where 
they  came  from,  for  fear  that  the  information 
might  reach  Matt's  ears  in  a  roundabout  way. 
He  was  glad  when  Roy  said  : 

"  Haven' t  we  stayed  here  about  long  enough  ? 
If  we  want  this  to  be  our  last  night  in  the 
mountains  we  had  better  take  to  the  road 
again." 

"I  guess  you  had,"  replied  Mr.  Holmes,  re- 
luctantly. "I  never  was  guilty  of  so  inhos- 
pitable an  act  before,  except  when  I  showed 
Daily's  letter  to  the  detective  who  was  stopping 
with  me  and  asked  him  what  I  had  better  do 
about  it,  and  I  would  not  be  guilty  of  it  now  if 
I  could  do  as  I  pleased.  Remember  my  advice 
and  go  to  bed  in  the  dark  ;  for  if  you  don' t 
I  am  afraid  you  will  have  visitors  before 
morning." 

The  boys  promised  to  bear  the  matter  in 
mind,  at  the  same  time  assuring  the  old  man 
that  it  was  no  hardship  for  them  to  sleep  out 
of  doors,  and  Mr.  Holmes  hurried  away  to  get 


348  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

the  pitcher  of  milk  and  have  a  supper  and 
breakfast  put  up  for  them.  Being  apprehen- 
sive that  some  of  the  Buster  band  might  be  on 
the  watch,  hoping  to  collect  some  damaging 
evidence  against  the  farmer  that  would  war- 
rant them  in  burning  his  house,  Joe  Wayring 
and  his  friends  did  not  once  venture  across  the 
threshold,  although  often  urged,  but  ate  a 
lunch  and  drank  their  fill  of  milk  while  sit- 
ting on  the  back  steps.  When  the  boys  offered 
to  pay  for  being  so  royally  entertained,  Mr. 
Holmes  would  not  listen  to  it.  By  putting  it 
out  of  the  power  of  those  sheep-killing  dogs  to 
do  any  more  mischief,  they  had  done  him  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  law-abiding  men  in  the  set- 
tlement a  kindness,  and  he  wished  they  could 
stay  there  for  a  week  so  that  he  and  his  neigh- 
bors might  show  them  how  grateful  they  were 
for  it.  If  any  citizen  of  that  region  had  shot 
those  dogs,  he  would  have  been  homeless  be- 
fore another  week  had  passed  over  his  head. 

"  I  hope  that  Matt  will  not  think  that  a  cit- 
izen did  do  it,  and  proceed  to  wreak  vengeance 
upon  some  one  against  whom  he  happens  to 
hold  a  grudge,"  said  Roy,  as  they  moved  swift- 


ME.  HOLMES' S   WARNING.  349 

ly  out  of  the  gate  and  turned  down  the  road. 
"  I  still  think  that  if  Mr.  Holmes  and  a  few 
determined  men  would  wake  up  and  go  about 
it  in  earnest,  they  could  put  an  end  to  this 
reign  of  terror.  I  can1 1  see  why  they  don' t  try 
it." 

But  there  was  one  thing  that  Roy  and  his 
friends  did  not  know,  and  Mr.  Holmes  had 
forgotten  to  speak  of  it.  There  was  not  a 
single  building  in  Glen's  Falls  that  had  a  dol- 
lar's worth  of  insurance  upon  it.  The  risks 
had  all  been  canceled  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  there  had  been 
none  taken  there  since.  This  was  one  thing 
that  made  Mr.  Holmes  and  his  neighbors  so 
very  timid. 

The  town  of  Glen's  Falls  was  a  dreary  look- 
ing spot,  as  the  boys  found  when  they  came  to 
ride  through  it.  There  was  a  forest  of  fine 
shade-trees  on  each  side  of  the  wride  principal 
thoroughfare,  but  there  was  grass  instead  of 
walks  under  them,  and  the  buildings  behind 
were  rapidly  falling  to  pieces.  The  evidences 
of  former  prosperity  that  met  their  eyes  on 
every  hand  proved  that  there  had  once  been 


350  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

money  and  brains  in  the  place,  and  that  it  would 
have  amounted  to  something  before  this  time  if 
Dave  Daily  and  the  rest  of  the  Buster  band  had 
been  out  of  the  way.  They  slaked  their  thirst 
at  a  pump  on  the  corner  of  a  cross-road  and 
continued  on  their  way  without  meeting  a  single 
person.  If  it  had  not  been  for  an  occasional 
head  they  saw  through  the  windows  of  some 
of  the  houses  they  passed,  they  would  have 
said  that  the  town  was  deserted. 

Their  guide-book  told  them  that  the  road 
that  led  from  Glen's  Falls  through  the  moun- 
tains to  the  low  country  beyond  was  so  plain  it 
could  not  be  missed,  and  perhaps  it  was  when 
the  man  who  wrote  the  book  passed  that  way 
on  his  wheel ;  but  it  was  not  so  now.  Roads 
there  were  in  abundance,  and  they  all  ran  down 
hill  in  the  direction  the  boys  wanted  to  go  ;  but 
they  were  filled  with  obstructions,  and  no  par- 
ticular one  of  them  showed  more  signs  of  travel 
than  another. 

"I'd  like  to  see  the  fellow  who  says  he  had 
a  mile  of  the  best  of  coasting  along  this  road 
try  his  hand  at  it  now,"  said  Roy,  seating  him- 
self on  a  log  and  cooling  his  flushed  face  with 


MR.  HOLMES' s  WARISTI]STG.  351 

his  cap  while  he  waited  for  one  or  the  other  of 
his  friends  to  go  ahead  and  take  the  lead. 
"I'm  tired  out,  and  if  I  was  sure  it  would 
be  quite  safe  to  do  so,  I  should  be  in  favor  of 
going  into  camp," 

"I  don't  believe  he  ever  came  along  this 
road,"  said  Joe.  "  We've  got  a  little  out  of 
our  reckoning,  that' sail." 

"  And  not  only  are  there  no  cows  near  by  to 
give  us  a  drink  of  milk,  but  we  wouldn't  dare 
go  after  it  if  there  were,  for  fear  of  that  villain 
Matt  Coyle,"  groaned  Roy.  "  Doesn' t  it  beat 
you  how  that  fellow  keeps  turning  up  ? " 

"And  at  the  very  time  he  isn't  wanted, " 
chimed  in  Arthur.  "If  you  want  to  stop,  all 
right;  but  don't  let's  stop  here.  I  think  it 
would  be  safer  to  go  into  the  bushes  and  hide. 
I  don't  much  like  the  idea  of  passing  the  night 
without  a  fire,  but  I  confess  that  what  Mr. 
Holmes  said  frightened  me.  I  wish  we  might 
get  a  hundred  miles  away  before  Matt  comes 
home  and  hears  that  his  watch-dogs  have  been 
shot." 

The  others  wished  so  too,  but  they  hadn't 
energy  enough  to  go  any  farther  that  night,, 


352  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

and  besides  the  appearance  of  the  road  ahead 
of  them  was  discouraging.  It  ran  down  a  steep 
bank  until  it  was  lost  among  the  trees  and 
bushes  as  its  foot,  and  probably  there  was 
another  bank  just  as  rough  and  steep  on  the 
other  side  of  the  brook  which  ran  through  the 
gully.  They  made  the  descent,  and  there  they 
found  a  stream  of  water  so  sparkling  and  cold 
that  the  sight  of  it  was  more  than  they  could 
resist.  They  carried  their  wheels  into  the 
bushes,  making  as  little  trail  as  possible,  and 
at  the  distance  of  ten  or  fifteen  yards  from  the 
road  found  a  camping  place  ;  or,  rather,  a 
thicket  that  would  be  a  nice  spot  for  a  camp 
when  some  of  its  interior  was  cut  away  so 
that  they  could  spread  their  blankets.  They 
did  not  use  their  camp-axes  for  fear  that  the 
noise  they  would  necessarily  make  in  chopping 
away  the  brush  would  serve  as  a  guide  to  some 
one  they  did  not  care  to  see.  They  worked 
silently  with  their  knives,  and  at  the  end  of  half 
an  hour  had  as  comfortable  a  camp  as  a  tired 
boy  would  wish  to  see,  if  there  had  only  been 
a  cheerful  fire  to  light  it.  They  ate'  their  sup- 
per in  the  dark,  took  a  refreshing  bath  in  the 


MR.  HOLMES' s  WARNING.  353 

brook,  and  then  lay  down  with  their  blankets 
about  them  and  their  loaded  pocket  rifles  close 
at  hand.  This  was  the  first  time  they  had  found 
it  necessary  to  adopt  this  precaution,  and  they 
hoped  it  would  be  the  last. 

About  an  hour  after  my  master's  regular 
breathing  told  me  that  he  had  fallen  fast  asleep, 
I  was  startled  by  hearing  voices  a  little  distance 
away.  I  could  not  tell  which  direction  they 
came  from,  but  I  knew  they  were  men's  voices, 
and  that  they  were  angrily  discussing  some 
point  on  which  there  seemed  to  be  a  difference 
of  opinion.  I  was  still  more  startled  when 
Arthur  Hastings  raised  himself  upon  his 
elbow,  shook  Joe  Wayring  roughly  by  the 
shoulder,  and  whispered  in  his  ear : 

"Wake  up,  here.     Matt  Coyle's  coming." 

"  Where  3 "  asked  Joe,  who  was  wide  awake 
in  an  instant. 

"  Coming  along  the  very  road  we'd  had  to  go 
up  if  we'd  climbed  the  hill  on  the  other  side  of 
the  brook,"  replied  Arthur.  "  Do  you  hear 
that?  They're  stopping  fora  drink.  Reach 
over  and  give  Roy  a  shove.  Be  careful  to  put 

23 


354  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

your  hand  on  his  mouth  for  he  is  apt  to  speak 
out  when  he  is  suddenly  aroused." 

Be  careful  maneuvering  on  Joe's  part  Roy 
was  awakened  without  betraying  his  presence 
to  the  men,  who  had  by  this  time  halted  at  the 
brook,  and  then  the  three  boys  sat  up  on  their 
blankets  and  listened. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

TWO   NARROW  ESCAPES. 

I  *  -T-  TELL  you  I  feel  so  savage  that  I  could 
-L  bite  a  nail  in  two  an'  not  half  try,"  were 
the  first  words  that  came  to  the  ears  of  the  lis- 
tening wheelmen.  They  were  preceded  by  a 
long-drawn  sigh  of  satisfaction,  such  as  a 
thirsty  boy  sometimes  utters  when  he  has 
taken  a  hearty  drink  of  water.  "  Seems  to 
me  that  I  can't  turn  in  no  direction  no  way 
but  I  find  them  oneasy  chaps  at  my  heels  to 
pester  the  life  out  of  me.  They're  to  blame 
for  me  losin'  them  six  thousand  dollars  of 
mine  that  I  worked  hard  fur,  dog-gone  'em." 
How  the  boys  trembled  when  that  harsh 
voice  grated  on  their  ears.  It  was  Matt 
Coyle's,  sure  enough.  They  had  heard  it  so 
often  that  there  could  be  no  mistake  about  it. 
"They  was  the  ones  that  blocked  this  little 
game  of  mine,  an'  sent  me  an'  the  fellers  hum 
empty-handed  when  we  thought  to  come  back 

355  - 


356  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

rich,"  Matt  went  on,  growing  angrier  and 
raising  his  voice  to  a  higher  key  as  he  pro- 
ceeded. "I  seen  'em  as  plain  as  daylight; 
an'  now  I  come  hum  to  find  that  they've  been 
here  an'  shot  them  two  dogs  that  I  was  de- 
pendin'  on  to  keep  the  constable  away  from 
my  shanty.  Did  anybody  ever  hear  of  sich 
pizen  luck?" 

"If  you  saw  them  there  at  the  rock,  what 
was  the  reason  you  did  not  drive  them  off  so't 
the  train  could  run  into  it  ? "  inquired  another 
familiar  voice, — in  point  of  fact,  the  voice 
of  Dave  Daily.  The  boys  were  surprised  to 
know  that  he  was  there,  and  wondered  if  he 
had  come  out  to  meet  Matt  and  put  him  on 
their  trail.  If  he  had,  what  was  his  object  in 
doing  it  ?  Did  he  want  to  see  them  punished 
for  shooting  those  savage  dogs,  or  did  he  want 
to  have  them  robbed  ? 

"  You  say  you  and  your  crowd  worked  hard 
to  get  that  rock  down  the  bluff  and  onto  the 
track,  and  yet  you  sot  there  in  the  bresh  and 
let  one  single  boy  turn  you  from  your  pur- 
pose, which  was  to  bust  up  the  train,"  con- 
tinued Daily.  "He  must  have  been  alone, 


TWO   NARROW   ESCAPES.  357 

for  you  say  yourself  that  one  of  his  friends 
went  one  way  and  t'other  went  t'other  to  tell 
the  engineer  to  watch  out.  Why  didn't  you 
go  down  and  pitch  him  into  the  ravine  ? " 

"  What  would  have  been  the  good  of  doin' 
that,  seein'  that  Joe  an'  Arthur  had  already 
went  off?"  demanded  the  squatter,  with  some 
show  of  spirit.  "An'  don't  I  tell  you  that  he 
had  a  pistol  or  something  in  his  hand." 

Daily  uttered  an  exclamation  of  impatience. 

"'Twasn't  a  pistol  nor  nothing  of  the 
sort,"  said  he.  "  It  was  a  little  pop-gun  that 
wouldn't  hit  the  side  of  a  barn  nor  shoot 
through  a  piece  of  card-board.  Before  I 
would  say  that  I  was  scared  by  a  little  thing 
like  that  I  would  go  off  and  hide  myself ; 
wouldn't  you,  Spence  ? " 

"Them  pop-guns  was  big  enough  an'  ugly 
enough  to  kill  them  two  dogs  of  mine,  an'  I 
ain't  got  no  call  to  face  sich  we'pons,"  re- 
torted Matt,  who,  as  you  know,  always  took 
care  to  look  out  for  number  one.  "An'  here 
we've  been  hidin'  around  in  the  bresh  fur  most 
a  week,  fearin'  the  officers,  when  we  might 
as  well  come  hum  to  onct.  That's  another 


358  THE  STEEL  IIOESE. 

thing  that  makes  me  mad.  I  do  wish  I  could 
get  my  two  hands  onto  them  boys  fur  a  little 
while,  an'  you  fellers  here  to  help  me.  I'd 
larrup  'em  so't  they  wouldn't  ever  come  nigh 
here  agin,  I  bet  you." 

"  I  don't  know  whether  you  would  or  not," 
replied  Daily.  "I  kinder  liked  'em,  and  as 
long  as  they  ain't  officers — " 

''That's  so,"  interrupted  Matt.  "  But 
they're  jest  the  chaps  to  put  the  constables 
onto  your  trail  an'  mine.  That's  their  best 
holt.  Didn't  you  say  that  if  you  was  in  my 
place  you  wouldn't  rest  easy  till  everybody 
who  had  had  a  hand  in  mistreatin'  you  had 
been  burned  outen  house  an'  home?  Well, 
them  are  three  of  'em." 

"  Now  why  didn't  you  say  so  ? "  demanded 
the  chief  of  the  Buster  band. 

"If  we'd  only  knowed  that,  we'd  a  kept 
'em  for  you,"  added  Spence's  voice. 
"Wouldn't  we,  Dave?  Now  that  I  come  to 
think  of  it,  the  youngsters  never  told  us  who 
they  was  or  where  they  come  from,  and  we 
didn't  think  to  ask  them." 

"They'd  a  lied   to  you   if  you  had,"  said 


TWO   NAEKOW  ESCAPES.  359 

Matt,  and  the  boys  judged  by  the  sound  of 
crunching  gravel  that  he  was  pacing  back  and 
forth  across  the  road  like  some  caged  wild 
animal.  "  That's  the  kind  of  fellers  they  be  ; 
an'  now  I'll  tell  you  what's  a  fact :  If  you 
don't  help  me  ketch  them  fellers  an'  hold  'em 
so't  they  can't  get  away  till  we  get  ready  to 
let  'em,  this  country  of  your'n  will  be  thick 
with  officers  afore  two  weeks  more  has  gone  by. 
That's  the  way  it  was  down  to  Injun  Lake." 

"  And  this  is  what  we  get  by  taking  you  in 
and  feeding  you  when  you  was  nigh  about 
dead,  is  it? "  exclaimed  Daily,  in  angry  tones. 
' '  I  bet  you  that  the  next  tramp  who  comes  this 
way  will  be  kicked  out  before  he  has  time  to 
tell  his  story.  You've  brought  some  of  our 
boys  into  trouble  by  talking  them  big  notions 
of  your'n  into  their  heads,  and  telling  how 
easy  it  was  to  smash  a  train  and  get  thousands 
of  dollars  outen  the  pocket  of  the  folks — Ugh  ! 
I  can't  bear  to  think  of  what  fools  we  made  of 
ourselves  by  listening  to  you.  Now  you  clear 
yourself,  before  we  make  an  end  of  you  for 
good." 

"I  come  here  'cause  I  had  to  go  somewhere, 


360  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

didn't  I?  "  said  Matt,  in  tones  that  were  fully 
as  angry  and  fierce  as  Daily's.  "I'm  sorry 
enough  I  done  it,  for  you're  not  the  men  I 
took  you  for.  You're  willin'  to  stand  here 
with  your  hands  in  your  pockets  an'  let  them 
rich  folks  tell  you  what  an'  when  you  shall 
eat." 

"No,  we  ain't,"  roared  Daily.  "We're  free 
Amerikin  citizens,  and  we  don't  allow  nobody 
to  tell  us  what  we  shall  do." 

"Well,  then,  what  makes  you  talk  to  me 
that-a-way?"  cried  Matt.  "I  come  here  to 
help,  an'  I've  told  you  of  more  ways  to  bother 
the  folks  who  want  to  make  laws  for  you  than 
you  would  have  thought  of  in  ten  years'  time. 
As  fur  puttin'  that  rock  on  the  track,  nobody 
suspicions  who  done  it,  an'  we  laid  around  in 
the  bresh  so't  the  officers,  if  any  happened 
to  be  here,  shouldn't  see  us  comin'  from 
t' wards  the  railroad.  I'm  free  to  say  that  I 
didn't  want  to  go  down  to  the  track  alone  an' 
face  the  we'pon  that  Sheldon  boy  had  in  his 
hand  (I  knowed  him  dark  as  it  was),  but  I  of- 
fered to  go  if  any  one  would  go  with  me  ;  an' 
they  wouldn't.  Ask  'em  if  it  ain't  so." 


TWO   NARROW  ESCAPES.  361 

This  proved  to  Roy  Sheldon's  entire  satisfac- 
tion that  he  had  done  the  right  thing  when  he 
pulled  his  pocket  rifle  from  its  case,  shoved  a 
cartridge  into  it,  and  prepared  to  defend  him- 
self if  the  train- wreckers  thought  it  best  to  at- 
tack him.  It  seems  that  they  did  watch  him 
and  discuss  plans  for  getting  him  out  of  their 
way,  but  some  of  the  timid  ones  among  them 
saw  the  light  reflected  from  the  nickel-plated 
ornaments  on  his  rifle,  and  could  not  muster 
courage  enough  to  show  themselves. 

"Nobody  don't  suspicion  that  we  put  the 
rock  on  the  track,"  repeated  Matt,  "an'  that 
ain't  why  the  officers  will  come  here.  You're 
the  one  who  done  the  mischief — you,  your- 
self. As  soon  as  one  of  them  boys  began  to 
let  on  that  they  knowed  who  you  was,  you 
showed  them  all  the  letters  an'  things  vou 

<j          tf 

writ  for  the  papers,  an'  talked  to  'em  like  they 
was  friends  of  your'n.  You  will  find  yourself 
in  trouble  all  along  of  that  nonsense,  if  you 
don't  do  what  I  say." 

"  That  puts  a  different  look  on  the  matter," 
said  Daily,  in  a  much  milder  tone,  "  and, 
Matt,  I'm  sorry  I  jawed  you  that-a-way.  Fact 


362  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

of  it  is,  I  couldn't  help  it.  We've  been  in  a 
power  of  trouble  and  trib'lation  ever  since 
them  rich  folks  down  to  Washington  sent  for 
us  to  go  and  fight  their  war  for  'em,  and  then 
went  and  made  laws  against  shooting  deer  and 
ketching  trout,  and  we've  got  pretty  well  riled 
up.  What  do  you  think  we  had  best  do  ? " 

"N"ab  them  boys  fust  an'  foremost,"  said 
the  squatter  emphatically.  "That's  the  fust 
thing ;  then,  after  I  have  had  my  satisfaction 
outen  'em,  by  tyin'  'em  to  a  tree  an'  larrupin' 
'em  with  hickories,  like  I  would  have  done 
with  that  there  pizen  Joe  Wayring  if  them 
friends  of  his' n  hadn't  come  up  an'  rescooed 
him  —  after  I've  done  all  that,  I'll  take  a  day 
off  an'  think  what  we'll  do  next.  One  thing  is 
sartin :  them  boys  must  not  be  let  go  out  of 
these  mountings  till  their  mouths  has  been 
shut  about  the  Buster  band  in  some  way  or 
'nuther." 

* '  Ketching  of  '  em  is  going  to  be  the  hardest 
part  of  the  whole  business,"  remarked  Spence. 
"They  skum  along  right  peart  after  we  let 
them  go,  and  I  b'lieve  they  are  plumb  outen 
the  mountings  by  this  time.  If  they  are — " 


TWO   NARROW   ESCAPES.  363 

"  But  they  ain't,  I  tell  you,"  Matt  Coyle  in- 
terposed. "It  don't  lay  in  no  steam  injun, 
let  alone  a  bisickle,  to  get  outen  these  mount- 
ings betwixt  five  o'clock  an'  dark.  They're 
camped  summers  between  here  an'  Ogden, 
an'  all  we'  ve  got  to  do  is  to  circle  round  to  our 
usual  lookin'-out  place  an'  stay  there  till  we  see 
'em  comin';  then  we'll  run  down  an'  stop  'em. 
When  I  get  my  hands  onto  'em  they'd  best 
watch  out,  fur  I  feel  jest  like  poundin'  'em 
plumb  to  death  to  pay 'em  fur  stickin'  that  in- 
nercent  ole  woman  of  mine  in  jail.  An'  the 
boys  too  ;  the  very  best,  honestest  an'  hardest 
workin'  boys  that  any  pap  ever  had.  They're 
likewise  shut  up  all  along  of  that  pizen  Joe 
Way  ring  an'  his  rich  friends." 

These  words  were  followed  by  the  strangest 
sounds  the  boys  had  ever  heard.  If  they  had 
not  known  Matt  Coyle  as  well  as  they  did,  they 
would  have  been  sure  he  was  crying. 

All  this  while  the  men  (and  there  seemed  to 
be  a  large  party  of  them)  had  been  taking 
turns  drinking  at  the  brook ;  and  having 
•quenched  their  thirst  they  started  on  again 
with  a  common  impulse,  not  along  the  road, 


364  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

but  up  the  stream  on  whose  right-hand  bank 
the  boys  were  encamped.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  of  it,  for  there  was  no  longer  any 
crunching  of  gravel  under  the  heels  of  their 
heavy  boots,  but  the  bushes  snapped  and 
swayed,  and  the  voices  came  more  distinctly 
to  their  ears.  Matt  Coyle  was  the  one  who 
did  most  of  the  talking.  He  did  not  seem  to 
take  his  failure  to  wreck  the  train  so  very 
much  to  heart,  but  he  bewailed  the  loss  of  his 
dogs,  whose  good  qualities  could  not  be  enum- 
erated by  any  one  man,  and  asked  who  would 
warn  him  now  if  the  officers  came  to  his  shanty 
some  dark  night  to  arrest  him. 

"  They  are  coming  this  way  as  sure  as  the 
world,"  whispered  Roy,  drawing  his  feet 
closer  to  him  and  placing  an  elbow  on  each 
knee  so  that  he  could  have  a  dead  rest  with 
his  rifle.  "Why  don't  the  fools  stick  to  the 
road?  It's  easier  walking  there  than  it  is  in 
the  bushes." 

' '  This  is  no  doubt  a  short  cut  to  their 
hiding-place,"  replied  Joe.  "  Stand  together, 
fellows,  and  we'll  show  them  what  we  are 
made  of.  We'll  give  them  fair  warning,  and 


TWO   NARKOW  ESCAPES.  365 

if  they  are  foolish  enough  to  disregard  it,  they 
will  have  to  take  the  consequences." 

"  That's  what's  the  matter,"  whispered  Ar- 
thur, cautiously  moving  a  little  closer  to  his 
friends.  "I'm  afraid,  but  I'll  never  be  tied 
to  a  tree  and  whipped ;  they  can  bet  on  that." 

I  can  not  begin  to  tell  you  how  frightened  I 
was  as  I  stood  there  and  listened  to  the  voices 
and  footsteps  of  those  desperate  men  who  were 
every  minute  drawing  nearer  to  our  place  of 
concealment.  Eemember,  I  was  utterly  help- 
less. However  good  my  will  may  have  been, 
I  did  not  possess  the  power  to  do  the  first  thing 
to  aid  my  master  in  the  fight  which  I  firmly 
believed  would  be  commenced  in  less  than  ten 
seconds.  And  bear  another  thing  in  mind  :  If 
the  young  wheelmen  \vere  found  there,  and 
were  overpowered  and  taken  captive,  the  shoot- 
ing of  Matt  Coyle's  worthless  dogs  was  not  the 
only  thing  for  which  they  would  be  punished. 
They  knew  Matt's  secret.  They  knew  that  he 
and  some  of  his  party  had  tried  to  wreck  a 
train.  They  had  talked  about  it  where  the 
boys  could  plainly  hear  every  word  they  ut- 
tered. Of  course  Matt  would  know  it,  if  he 


366  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

found  them  there  in  the  bushes,  and  what 
would  he  do  ?  How  would  he  go  to  work  to 
"  shut  up  their  mouths,"  as  he  had  spoken  of 
doing  ?  I  assure  you  this  thought  was  enough 
to  make  even  my  steel  nerves  shake ;  and  I 
believe  it  must  have  passed  through  Joe  Way- 
ring's  mind  and  frightened  him,  for  I  heard 
him  say,  in  a  scarcely  audible  whisper  : 

"It's  do  or  die,  fellows.  That  villain  will 
be  wild  with  rage  if  he  learns  that  we  heard  all 
he  said  to  Dave  Daily.  If  the  worst  must 
come,  be  sure  of  your  man  before  you  shoot." 

That  moment's  terrible  suspense  is  some- 
thing I  never  shall  forget ;  then  the  reaction 
came,  and  I  felt  as  if  I  were  going  to  fall 
in  a  heap  like  a  piece  of  wet  rope.  There  was 
a  tolerably  well-beaten  path  along  the  bank  of 
the  brook,  but  it  was  on  the  other  side.  Dave 
Daily  and  his  gang  of  villains  followed  it,  and 
that  was  all  that  saved  us.  If  there  had  been 
a  spark  of  fire  on  our  side  the  brook  as  big  as 
the  end  of  your  finger,  I  should  have  had  a 
different  story  to  tell.  I  was  so  confused  that 
I  could  not  pay  any  attention  to  their  conver- 
sation, but  I  counted  them  as  they  passed 


TWO  NAKROW   ESCAPES.  367 

along  in  Indian  file,  and  when  at  last  they 
were  out  of  hearing  and  Roy  Sheldon  spoke,  I 
knew  his  count  agreed  with  mine. 

"Thirteen,"  was  all  he  said;  and  then  he 
lay  down  on  his  blanket  and  probably  looked 
as  nerveless  as  I  felt. 

"  And  at  least  half  of  them  must  have  been 
with  Matt,"  added  Arthur  Hastings.  "I 
know  it  took  six  or  seven  men  to  roll  that 
bowlder  out  of  the  ditch  and  place  it  on  the 
track.  Great  Scott !  Wasn'  t  that  a  narrow 
escape ! " 

"I'd  like  to  know  how  we  shall  come  out 
to-morrow,"  said  Joe,  anxiously.  ' '  That '  look- 
ing-out  place '  that  Matt  spoke  of  "must  com- 
mand a  view  of  the  road  along  which  we  will 
have  to  go  to  get  to  Ogden,  and  if  we  do  not 
mind  what  we  are  about,  Matt  will  meet  and 
stop  us  there." 

This  was  another  thing  the  young  wheelmen 
had  to  worry  over,  and  taken  in  connection 
with  the  vivid  recollection  of  the  exciting 
scene  through  which  they  had  just  passed,  it 
effectually  banished  sleep  from  their  eyes  for 
the  rest  of  the  night.  And  daylight  was  a 


368  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

long  time  coming,  as  it  always  is  when  anx- 
iously waited  and  watched  for.  They  ate 
breakfast  as  they  had  eaten  supper — in  the 
dark — and  when  the  birds  began  singing  picked 
up  their  wheels  and  struck  out  for  the  road, 
which  they  found  to  be  quite  as  bad  as  it 
looked  on  the  previous  evening.  The  first  hill 
they  encountered  was  a  hard  one,  as  they 
knew  it  was  going  to  be,  and  when  they  gained 
the  top  they  had  to  go  down  again  on  the 
other  side.  Of  course  the  woods  were  about 
as  dark  as  they  could  be,  and  it  was  anything 
but  pleasant  for  the  leading  boy  to  feel  his  way 
while  trundling  his  wheel  beside  him.  But 
the  fear  of  Matt  Coyle's  wrath  and  the  hope  of 
passing  his  "looking-out  place"  before  the 
sun  arose,  drove  them  on,  and  to  such  good 
purpose  that,  by  the  time  they  could  see  to 
ride,  they  found  themselves  on  a  smooth,  well- 
traveled  highway.  They  did  not  stop  to  ask 
one  another  whether  or  not  it  was  the  road 
they  wanted  to  find.  It  led  away  from  the 
mountains,  and  that  was  all  they  cared  to 
know. 

"Away  we  go  on  our  wheels,  boys,"  sang 


TWO   NARROW   ESCAPES.  369 

Joe ;  and  suiting  tlie  action  to  the  word  he 
sprang  into  his  saddle  and  set  out  at  a  lively 
pace.  "Now,  Matt  Coyle,  come  on.  It  would 
take  a  better  horse  than  you  ever  did  or  ever 
will  own  to  stop  us." 

"  But  a  stick  thrown  into  the  road  might  do 
the  business  for  us,"  suggested  Roy. 

"You  don't  suppose  Matt  knows  that,  do 
you?"  said  Arthur.  "Does  anybody  see 
anything  that  looks  as  though  it  might  be 
used  for  a  look-out  station  \  " 

Nobody  did.  There  was  nothing  to  be  seen 
but  a  cultivated  field  on  the  right  hand,  a 
thickly  wooded  hill-side  on  the  left,  and  a  farm 
house  in  the  distance.  True  there  was  a  high, 
bald  peak  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  hill  over 
which  the  road  disappeared,  but  it  was  all  of 
ten  or  fifteen  miles  away,  and  a  man  stationed 
on  its  summit  would  have  needed  a  good  glass 
to  make  us  out.  At  least  that  was  what  Joe 
Way  ring  said,  and  then  he  dismissed  all  fears 
of  Matt  Coyle  from  his  mind,  and  made  a 
motion  with  his  hand  as  if  to  throw  open  the 
breech  of  his  pocket  rifle,  which  he  had  thus 
far  carried  in  readiness  for  any  emergency  that 

24 


370  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

might  arise,  and  remove  the  cartridge  ;  but,  on 
reflection,  he  decided  to  wait  a  little  longer. 
It  was  lucky  he  did  so,  and  that  his  compan- 
ions followed  his  example. 

If  the  Buster  band  really  had  a  "looking- 
out  place"  anywhere  within  sight  of  the  road 
I  don't  know  it,  but  I  do  know  that  by  taking 
short  cuts  through  the  mountains  they  managed 
to  reach  the  highway  in  advance  of  us,  for 
when  we  reached  the  top  of  the  hill  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  and  the  wheelmen  were  about  to 
stow  the  rifles  in  their  cases  preparatory  to  a 
coast,  Matt  Coyle  and  Dave  Daily  suddenly 
stepped  out  of  a  thicket  on  one  side  of  the  road, 
and  as  many  more  ruffians  arose  from  behind 
the  fence  on  the  other.  They  were  about 
thirty  yards  away,  and  although  all  except 
Matt  carried  guns  in  their  hands,  I  was  relieved 
to  see  that  there  was  not  a  club  or  stone  among 
them.  They  supposed  that  all  they  had  to  do 
was  to  form  across  the  road,  call  upon  the 
boys  to  halt,  and  they  would  be  obeyed. 

"Them's  the  fellers — the  very  chaps  I've 
been  a-lookin'  fur,"  yelled  the  squatter,  shak- 
ing his  fists  in  the  air  and  striking  up  a  war- 


TWO  NARROW  ESCAPES.  371 

dance  in  the  middle  of  the  road.  "Now  Til 
have  the  whole  on  you,  an'  there  won't  be  no- 
body to  interfere  when  I — " 

"  Fall  speed,  boys,"  said  Joe,  in  a  low  tone. 
"  Hold  fast  to  your  guns  and  be  ready  to  stop 
if  anybody  gets  unhorsed.  It's  our  only 
chance.  Get  out  of  the  way,"  he  cried,  flour- 
ishing his  cocked  rifle  above  his  head  with  one 
hand  while  he  guided  me  with  the  other. 
"  Get  out  of  the  way  or  we  will  run  you  down. 
If  we  strike  you,  you  are  dead  men." 

It  never  occurred  to  Matt  and  Dave  to  ask 
each  other  what  would  become  of  the  boys 
themselves  if  their  headlong  progress  were 
suddenly  stopped,  and  neither  did  they  linger 
to  try  the  experiment.  The  three  Columbias 
fairly  whistled  through  the  air ;  and  when 
Matt  saw  that  his  peremptory  orders  to  halt 
were  disregarded,  and  that  we  were  charging 
down  upon  him  with  apparently  irresistible 
force,  he  scuttled  out  of  the  way  with  the 
greatest  haste,  and  Dave  Daily,  the  terrible 
man  who  hid  in  the  woods  and  shot  at  officers 
unawares,  was  not  an  inch  behind  him. 

"Look  out  for  them  pop-guns,"  he  yelled. 


372  THE   STEEL   HOUSE. 

"Yes,  look  out  for  them,"  shouted  Ar- 
thur. "They're  death  on  all  sorts  of  var- 
mints." 

In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it  the  danger 
was  over.  Moving  abreast  and  going  at  almost 
railroad  speed  we  flew  down  the  hill,  and  the 
way  was  clear.  I  caught  just  one  glimpse  of 
Matt  Coyle's  scowling  and  astonished  face  as 
we  sped  by,  and  that  was  the  first  and  last 
time  I  ever  saw  him.  After  that  I  did  not 
wonder  that  my  master  and  his  friends  were 
resolved  to  fight  to  the  death  and  take  any 
risks  rather  than  fall  into  his  power,  for  if  I 
ever  saw  an  evil  face  I  saw  it  then.  But  the 
man  who  carried  it  around  with  him  was  a 
coward,  and  so  was  the  leader  of  the  Buster 
band,  who  was  afraid  of  the  pocket  rifles.  If 
those  handy  little  weapons  had  brought  their 
owners  into  difficulty,  they  had  also  assisted 
in  getting  them  out  of  it. 

Being  afraid  to  apply  the  brakes  the  boys 
regulated  their  speed  with  the  pedals  as  well 
as  they  could,  and  when  the  foot  of  the  hill 
was  reached  they  stopped  and  looked  behind 
them.  There  was  no  one  in  sight. 


TWO   NARROW   ESCAPES.  373 

"That  was  another  tight  squeak,"  said  Roy, 
holding  fast  to  his  wheel  with  one  hand  and 
fanning  himself  with  the  other,  as  he  always 
did  when  a  halt  was  made,  "  and  nothing  but 
Matt's  ignorance  arid  Dave's  brought  us 
through.  Well,  I  don't  know  that  we  are 
to  blame  if  they  didn't  have  sense  enough 
to  throw  something  in  the  road  in  front 
of  us." 

The  excitement  for  that  day  was  all  over 
now,  and  I  was  very  glad  of  it.  The  road 
being  good  and  the  coasting  places  frequent, 
we  bowled  along  at  a  lively  pace,  and  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  rode  into  the  village 
of  Ogden,  where  we  halted  for  the  night.  One 
of  the  loungers  on  the  porch  was  reading 
aloud  from  a  weekly  paper  which  had  but  just 
arrived  with  news  that  was  no  news  to  city 
people  by  this  time.  Of  course  the  work  of 
the  train-wreckers  was  given  a  prominent 
place,  as  well  as  a  lengthy  notice.  As  I  leaned 
against  the  porch  and  listened,  I  asked  myself 
what  those  loungers  would  have  said  if  some 
one  had  told  them  that  the  three  dusty  boys 
who  had  just  disappeared  through  the  door- 


374  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

way  were  the  ones  who  brought  the  efforts  of 
the  train-wreckers  to  naught. .  Roy  and  Arthur 
respected  Joe's  wishes,  and  never,  in  any  one's 
hearing,  spoke  of  what  he  had  done  that 
night. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

AN   UNEXPECTED   MEETING. 

FROM  the  morning  Joe  Wayring  and  his 
friends  left  Ogden  up  to  the  time  they 
wheeled  over  the  old  familiar  road  that  led 
into  Mount  Airy,  not  a  single  thing  happened 
to  mar  the  pleasure  of  their  trip.  I  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  the  roads  were  always  good, 
or  that  they  were  never  weather-bound ;  for 
those  petty  annoyances  fall  to  the  lot  of  every 
tourist,  he  expects  them,  and  knows  how  to 
make  the  best  of  them.  But  they  found  no 
more  train-wreckers  along  the  route,  nor  were 
there  any  Buster  bands  or  Matt  Coyles  to  be 
afraid  of.  They  spent  many  a  night  in  camp  ; 
their  pocket  rifles  brought  them  all  the  young 
squirrels  they  cared  to  eat ;  they  encountered 
tramps  on  nearly  every  mile  of  the  way,  and 
although  they  never  had  the  least  trouble  with 
these  social  outcasts,  they  listened  to  a  story 
from  the  lips  of  two  of  them  that  interested 

375 


376  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

them  exceedingly,  and  proved  to  Roy  Sliel- 
don's  entire  satisfaction  that  the  clear-sighted 
Joe  Wayring  had  hit  pretty  close  to  the  mark 
when  he  declared  that  Roy's  presence  aboard 
the  White  Squall  had  not  been  brought  about 
by  accident. 

Their  destination  was  Plymouth,  a  little  sea- 
port town  situated  on  a  bay  of  the  same  name. 
They  spent  a  day  roaming  about  the  wharves, 
looking  at  everything  there  was  to  be  seen, 
especially  the  ships,  which  would  hardly  have 
attracted  more  than  a  passing  notice  from 
them,  had  it  not  been  for  Roy's  experience  in 
New  London  harbor.  They  went  aboard  of 
one,  looked  all  over  it,  marveled  at  its  strength 
and  more  at  the  power  of  the  winds  and  waves 
which  could  so  easily  make  a  wreck  of  man's 
best  handiwork.  They  turned  up  their  noses 
at  the  dingy  forecastle,  smelling  of  tar  and 
bilgewater,  and  wondered  how  any  one  could 
bring  himself  to  bunk  in  it  during  a  long 
voyage. 

"I  would  much  rather  sleep  on  a  bed  of  hem- 
lock boughs,"  said  Joe,  "  and  go  out  in  the 
morning  and  catch  my  own  breakfast  from  the 


AN   UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  377 

sparkling  waters  of  a  lake  or  brook,  and  serve 
it  up  on  a  piece  of  clean  bark.  If  I  had  been  in 
love  with  the  sea  when  I  came  here,  I  would  be 
all  over  it  now." 

"It's  rough,  isn't  it?"  said  Roy,  as  he  and 
his  companions  went  down  the  gangplank  to 
the  wharf  ;  and  he  trembled  all  over  when  he 
thought  how  near  he  had  come  to  being  carried 
to  distant  countries  against  his  will.  "The 
little  I  saw  of  a  sailor's  life  while  I  was  on  the 
White  Squall  convinced  me  that  the  officers 
are  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  forecastle. 
They  can  be  as  brutal  as  they  please  when  they 
are  out  of  sight  of  land,  and  there's  no  law  to 
touch  them." 

"There's  law  enough,"  answered  Joe,  "but 
the  trouble  is,  a  sailor  man  can't  use  it.  Sup- 
pose he  has  the  officers  of  his  vessel  arrested 
for  cruelty  while  he  has  the  rest  of  the  crew  at 
hand  to  prove  it  against  them.  They  are  put 
under  bonds,  but  the  case  is  postponed  on  one 
pretext  or  another,  and  while  that  is  being 
done,  how  is  Jack  going  to  live  ?  Of  course 
the  minute  he  gets  ashore  he  makes  haste  to 
spend  his  wages,  and  when  his  last  dollar  is 


378  -       THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

gone  what  recourse  has  he  but  to  ship  for 
another  voyage  ?  Then  the  case  is  called,  and 
there  being  no  one  to  prosecute,  the  captain 
and  his  mates  are  discharged  and  go  aboard 
their  vessel  to  play  the  same  game  over 
again." 

"  That's  about  the  way  those  lightship  men 
put  it  when  I  threatened  to  have  Captain  Jack 
punished  for  kidnapping  me,"  said  Roy. 
"That  may  be  law,  but  it  isn't  justice.  I 
wonder  where  the  White  Squall  and  Tony  and 
Bob  are  now." 

"  I  shouldn't  think  you  would  care,"  replied 
Arthur.  "I  know  1  shouldn't  if  I  had  been 
treated  as  you  have." 

"I  don't  much  care  what  becomes  of  the 
ship  and  her  officers,  but  I  am  sorry  for  the 
crew.  I  tell  you  that  Tony  and  Bob  were 
shanghaied  the  same  as  I  was," 

Becoming  weary  of  Plymouth  and  its  sur- 
roundings at  last,  the  boys  took  the  road  again, 
this  time  with  their  faces  turned  toward  Mount 
Airy.  They  went  back  by  a  different  route, 
as  they  intended  to  do  when  they  set  out ;  but 
they  had  another  reason  for  it  now.  Money 


AN  UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  379 

would  not  have  hired  them  to  return  across  the 
mountains  and  take  their  chances  of  capture  by 
Matt  Coyle  and  the  Buster  band.  Now  that 
they  could  think  over  their  adventures  with 
calmness,  they  were  surprised  at  the  ease  with 
which  they  had  slipped  through  those  ruffians' 
fingers.  They  knew  they  couldn't  do  it  again, 
and  they  would  have  gone  home  by  rail  rather 
than  try  the  mountain  route  a  second  time. 
There  was  one  thing  about  it,  Arthur  repeat- 
edly declared  :  The  man  who  wrote  their  guide- 
book must  be  posted  so  that  he  could  warn 
wheelmen  to  keep  away  from  Glen's  Falls  until 
the  mischief -making  squatter  and  his  new  allies 
had  been  arrested  and  lodged  in  jail. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  after 
leaving  Plymouth,  the  boys  came  suddenly 
upon  a  couple  of  tramps  who  had  halted  under 
the  shade  of  a  tree  by  the  roadside  to  eat  the 
bread  and  meat  they  had  begged  at  the  nearest 
farmhouse.  But  these  men  were  not  like  the 
other  tramps  they  had  seen.  They  were  sailors 
on  the  face  of  them,  and  looked  out  of  place 
there  in  the  country  so  far  from  salt  water. 
Roy  Sheldon  was  sure  there  was  something 


380  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

familiar  about  them,  and  hardly  knowing  why 
he  did  so,  he  called  out,  as  he  moved  past 
them,  "Bob,  Tony,"  whereupon  the  men 
jumped  to  their  feet  and  stared  hard  at  him 
without  saying  a  word.  They  were  evidently 
frightened,  and  would  have  taken  to  their  heels 
if  they  had  seen  the  least  chance  for  escape. 

"I  declare,  I  believe  they  are  Tony  and 
Bob,"  said  Roy,  who  was  utterly  amazed  at  the 
effect  his  words  had  produced  upon  the  tramps; 
and  turning  about,  he  rode  back  to  the  tree 
under  which  they  stood.  "How  in  the  name 
of  all  that's  wonderful  did  you  get  stranded 
here  ?" 

"Is — is  it  Howe  Shelly?"  one  of  the  men 
managed  to  ask. 

"Yes,  sir,  they  are  Tony  and  Bob,"  ex- 
claimed Roy,  getting  off  his  wheel  and  nod- 
ding at  his  companions.  "  Dusty  as  they  are, 
I  know  them.  What's  the  matter  ? "  he  added, 
as  the  men  began  backing  away  as  if  they  did 
not  want  him  to  come  any  nearer.  "  You  are 
not  afraid  of  me,  are  you  ?  I  am  not  a  ghost, 
and  neither  am  I  Rowe  Shelly,  although  my 
name  sounds  somewhat  like  his,  and  I  have 


AN    UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  381 

been  told  that  I  look  like  him.  I  am  a  different 
boy  altogether.  Now  let's  have  the  straight  of 
this  thing  before  we  go  any  farther.  I  saw 
you  carried  to  sea  on  the  White  Squall.  How 
did  you  escape  from  her,  and  where  is  she 
now?  " 

"At  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,"  replied  one 
of  the  men ;  and  the  boys  thought  from  the 
way  he  spoke  he  was  glad  to  be  able  to  say  it. 

"At  the  bottom  of — "  began  Roy,  incredu- 
lously. "  Serves  her  just  right.  She  had  no 
business  to — but  everything  goes  to  show  that 
you  took  me  aboard  of  her  on  purpose  to  have 
me  kidnapped.  What  have  you  to  say  about 
it  ?  Sit  down  and  eat  your  dinner.  You  can 
talk  just  as  well,  and  you  act  as  though  you 
were  very  hungry." 

"  So  we  are,  sir,"  said  the  one  whom  Roy 
had  picked  out,  and  who  he  afterward  ad- 
dressed as  Tony.  "  We  never  done  such  a 
thing  before,  sir,  but  we  had  to  come  to  it. 
It's  no  use  trying  to  hide  the  truth  any  longer, 
for  it  has  come  out  on  us.  Yes,  sir  ;  me  and 
Bob  did  take  you  aboard  that  ship  on  pur- 
pose." 


382  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"There,  now,"  cried  Joe,  indignantly,  while 
Arthur  Hastings  looked  and  acted  as  though 
he  wanted  to  fight. 

"But  what  object  did  you  have  in  doing 
it?"  continued  Roy.  "  Who  put  you  up  to 
it— Willis?" 

"He's  the  very  chap,  sir:  but  we've  been 
punished  for  it,  and  we  hope— 

"  You've  nothing  whatever  to  fear  from  me, 
if  that  is  what  you  want  to  say,"  interposed 
Roy,  who  was  impatient  to  get  at  the  bottom 
of  what  was  to  him  a  deep  mystery.  "You 
know  how  I  got  away,  and  here  I  am,  safe  and 
sound.  Your  actions  proved  that  you  did  not 
think  you  were  going  to  be  shanghaied  your- 
selves— what  are  you  looking  for  ?  " 

"You're  right  we  didn't  know  it,  sir,"  an- 
swered Tony,  who  pulled  out  his  ditty-bag, 
and  after  a  little  fumbling  in  it  drew  forth  a 
piece  of  soiled  paper  which  he  handed  to  Roy. 
"That,  sir,  is  the  letter  I  took  to  Cap'n  Jack 
that  night.  If  I  had  only  known  what  was 
writ  onto  it,  me  and  Bob  would  have  kept 
clear  of  that  ship,  you  may  be  sare.  The  cap'n 
dropped  it  on  deck  shortly  after  you  went 


AN    UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  383 

overboard,  and  I  made  bold  to  pick  it  up  with- 
out saying  a  word  to  him  about  it.  I  thought 
it  would  come  handy  some  day.  Read  it  for 
yourself,  sir,  and  you  will  see  that  me  and 
Bob  was  innocent  of  any  intention  of  doing  the 
least  harm  to  you,  sir." 

"Didn't  you  know  that  I  was  going  to  be 
kidnapped?"  exclaimed  Roy,  almost  fiercely. 
"  You  did.  Everything  goes  to  prove  it ;  but 
you  thought  you  could  get  me  into  trouble 
and  slip  off  the  ship  without  getting  into  trouble 
yourselves." 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,  sir,"  said  Tony,  with  so 
much  earnestness  that  Roy  was  almost  ready 
to  believe  him.  "  Read  that  paper,  and  then  I 
will  tell  you  just  what  was  said  and  done  in 
my  house  on  the  beacli  while  you  was  fast 
asleep  upstairs." 

The  letter,  which  bore  neither  date  nor  sig- 
nature, ran  as  follows : 

"CAPTAIN  JACK  ROWAN: — Knowing  that 
you  have  been  delayed  nearly  three  weeks  wait- 
ing for  a  crew,  I  send  you  three  men  who,  I 
think,  will  be  of  use  to  you.  Two  of  them 
used  to  be  sailors,  but  the  other  is  green  and 
will  have  to  be  broken  in.  Ask  no  questions, 
but  take  them  along.  A  FRIEND." 


384  THE   STEEL   IIOKSE. 

Roy  Sheldon  was  so  surprised  that  he  could 
not  speak  again  immediately.  He  leaned  his 
wheel  against  the  tree,  looked  first  at  Tony  and 
then  at  his  friends,  and  finally  sat  down  on  a 
convenient  bowlder. 

"  Seems  to  me  that  there  letter  clears  me  and 
Bob  of  everything  except  taking  you  aboard 
the  White  Squall  when  we  didn't  want  to  do 
it,"  said  Tony,  after  a  pause.  "We  was  as 
innocent  as  babbies  of  what  happened  after- 
wards." 

"If  you  didn't  want  to  do  it  what  made 
you?"  demanded  Joe. 

This  brought  Tony  to  the  story  he  had  to 
tell ;  and  as  I  believe  I  can  make  it  clearer  to 
you  than  he  did  to  Joe  and  his  friends,  I  will 
tell  it  in  my  own  language. 

Howe  Shelly' s  guardian,  who  was  fond  of 
the  water,  kept  a  swift  sailing-vessel  as  well 
as  a  steam  yacht,  and  Tony  and  Bob  Bradley 
belonged  to  it.  The  colonel  furnished  them  a 
house,  gave  them  regular  employment  during 
the  yachting  season,  and  in  the  winter  time 
permitted  them  to  make  what  money  they  could 
by  shooting  water-fowl  at  the  lower  end  of  the 


AN   UNEXPECTED    MEETING.  385 

island  for  the  New  London  markets.  They 
knew  nothing  whatever  of  the  colonel's  private 
affairs.  They  had  heard  a  good  many  rumors. 

"  I  want  to  say  a  word  right  there,"  inter- 
rupted Roy.  "  Where  did  those  rumors  come 
from?" 

The  boys  had  seated  themselves  on  the 
ground  on  each  side  of  the  sailors,  who  ate 
their  dinner  as  they  talked.  Tony  acted  as 
spokesman,  but  his  brother  jogged  his  memory 
with  a  word  now  and  then.  The  former  could 
not  say  where  the  rumors  came  from,  but  the 
mischief  was  all  done  by  an  old  sailor,  who 
settled  on  one  of  the  uninhabited  islands  in  the 
harbor  and  went  to  fishing  for  a  livelihood. 
Rowe  Shelly  chanced  to  run  athwart  his  hawse 
one  day  while  sailing  about  in  his  boat.  He 
talked  with  the  old  fellow  for  more  than  two 
hours,  and  when  he  came  home  he  exploded  a  , 
bomb -shell  in  his  guardian's  ear.  In  other 
words,  he  told  the  colonel  that  there  was  no 
relationship  between  them  ;  that  he  had  no 
business  with  the  money  he  was  squandering ; 
that  his  father  had  not  been  lost  at  sea,  as  the 
colonel  affirmed ;  that  he  was  still  alive,  and 

25 


386  THE   STEEL   HOKSE. 

so  was  liis  mother  ;  that  they  lived  in  Chelsea, 
Maryland  ;  and  that  he  was  going  to  them  as 
soon  as  he  could  get  off  the  island. 

"I  know  that  was  a  sassy  way  for  him  to 
talk  to  the  man  who  had  always  been  so  good 
to  him,  seeing  that  he  hadn't  no  better  evi- 
dence than  an  old  sailor-man's  unsupported 
word  to  back  him  up,"  said  Tony,  "but  the 
way  the  colonel  acted  satisfied  Howe  at  onct 
that  there  was  more'n  a  grain  of  truth  in  what 
he  had  heard.  The  first  thing  he  done  was  to 
take  away  the  boy' s  boat,  and  shut  him  up  on 
the  island  as  close  as  if  it  had  been  a  jail,  and 
his  second,  to  get  rid  of  the  fisherman.  How 
he  done  it  nobody  seems  to  know;  but  he 
wasn't  never  seen  again,  nuther  by  Howe  Shelly 
nor  nobody  else.  But  the  mischief  had  been 
done,  and  the  first  thing  we  knowed,  Howe 
Shelly  couldn't  be  found.  How  he  got  off  the 
island  nobody  couldn't  tell,  but  he  and  his 
bisickle  was  gone.  They  was  gone  for  more'n 
two  weeks ;  but  Willis,  who  acts  like  he  was 
as  big  a  man  on  the  island  as  the  colonel  him- 
self, follered  him  up  and  ketched  him  with  the 
help  of  detectives." 


AN   UNEXPECTED    MEETING.  387 

"How  did  this  fisherman  happen  to  know 
so  much  about  Ro we' s  father  and  mother?" 
inquired  Arthur. 

"He  was  shipmates  with  'em;  lived  next 
door  to  them  in  some  town  down  South,"  re- 
plied Tony.  "He  knowed  the  little  boy, 
Howe  Shelly,  and  used  to  trot  Mm  on  his 
knee  and  tell  him  stories  of  furrin  parts,  and 
he  knowed  well  enough  that  there  was  some 
sort  o'  hocus-pocus  about  it,  or  the  colonel 
wouldn'  t  never  had  that  money  the  old  grand- 
father left.  You  see  it  sorter  hurt  the  old  fel- 
ler when  Cap'n  Shelly,  who  was  his  only  child, 
married  a  widderwitha  gro wed-up  son  against 
his  will,  and  it  hurt  him,  too,  to  have  the  cap'n 
keep  on  going  to  sea  when  he  didn't  want  him 
to  ;  and  so  he  said  that  the  cap'n  shouldn't 
never  have  a  red  cent  of  his  money.  But 
when  Grandfather  Shelly  found  that  he'd  got 
to  pass  in  his  checks,  and  that  the  dark 
river  was  waiting  for  him,  he  gives  in  and 
willed  all  the  money  to  the  cap'n,  provided 
he  would  settle  down  on  shore." 

When  this  happened,  as  you  have  already 
heard,  Captain  Shelly  was  at  sea.     Eis  ship, 


388  THE  STEEL  HOUSE. 

the  Mary  Ann  Tolliver,  was  lost,  and  as 
nothing  was  heard  from  him  or  any  of  the  crew 
everybody  supposed  that  all  hands  had  been 
lost  with  her.  This  was  the  opportunity  for 
the  rascally  step-son,  and  straightway  he  was 
up  and  doing.  With  his  mother's  full  and  free 
consent  heVas  appointed  Howe's  guardian  and 
administrator  of  the  property  that  had  fallen  to 
him,  and  then  he  was  in  clover.  Finding  that 
the  boy's  mother  was  in  his  way,  and  that 
she  was  strenuously  opposed  to  any  squander- 
ing of  Howe's  money,  he  proceeded  to  rid  him- 
self of  her  presence.  He  did  not  exactly  turn 
her  out  of  doors,  as  Rowe  thought  he  did,  but 
he  lost  her — sent  her  away  on  a  visit,  and  when 
she  returned  he  wasn't  to  be  found.  He  and 
Rowe  were  in  Europe,  and  there  they  stayed 
until  the  guardian  thought  she  had  had  ample 
time  to  die  or  forget  him.  Then  he  came 
back,  bought  an  island  in  New  London  harbor, 
so  that  he  could  not  readily  be  intruded  upon 
and  Rowe  could  not  easily  slip  out  of  bis 
grasp  if  he  wanted  to,  and  set  himself  up  for 
a  gentleman  of  wealth  and  leisure. 
In  the  mean  time  Captain  Shelly  and  some 


AN    UNEXPECTED    MEETING.  389 

of  his  men,  who  had  been  picked  up  and  car- 
ried to  some  distant  port,  returned,  and  the 
captain  and  his  wife  were  reunited ;  but  the 
former,  being  broken  in  health  and  spirits  and 
ruined  financially  (every  dollar  he  owned  in 
the  world  went  down  with  his  ship),  did  not 
and  could  not  make  any  very  persevering  ef- 
fort to  find  out  what  had  become  of  his  scape- 
grace stepson  and  the  little  boy  who  was  worse 
than  orphaned.  After  a  year  or  two  spent  in 
useless  search  he  gave  them  up  for  lost ;  but 
others  interested  themselves  in  the  matter,  not 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  restoring  Captain 
Shelly  to  his  rights,  but  simply  to  benefit  their 
own  pockets,  and  two  of  them,  who  succeeded 
in  learning  enough  to  keep  Ho we' s  guardian  in 
constant  fear  of  exposure,  were  Willis  and  his 
son,  Benny,  who  were  given  a  home  and  pay- 
ing situations  on  the  island. 

"If  that  isn't  the  biggest  piece  of  villainy  I 
ever  heard  of  I  wouldn't  say  so,"  exclaimed 
Joe,  his  face  flushing  with  honest  indignation. 
"  Did  yon  ever  talk  to  Howe  Shelly  about 
these  things  ?" 

"Who?     Me?"    cried  Tony,   in    surprise. 


390  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

"  Not  by  a  great  sight,  sir.  If  I  had,  I  would 
have  been  bundled  off  that  there  island  so  quick 
that  I  couldn't  have  told  what  my  name  was. 
I  had  a  good  home,  and  didn't  want  to  lose  it 
by  meddling  in  things  that  didn't  concern  me." 

"  Well,  your  story  agrees  with  the  one  Howe 
told  us  on  the  night  our  friend  was  kidnapped 
and  taken  to  the  island,  and  I,  for  one,  am  in- 
clined to  believe  it." 

"  I  give  it  to  you,  sir,  just  as  I  got  it,"  an- 
swered Tony.  "  You  asked  what  them  rumors 
was  that  we  heard,  and  I  have  told  you.  If 
there  wasn't  no  truth  in  'em,  what  made  the 
colonel  act  as  he  did — take  the  boy's  boat  away 
from  him  and  keep  him  close  about  home, with 
orders  to  all  of  us  from  Willis  to  watch  out  for 
him?" 

"  That  also  confirms  Howe's  story,"  said  Ar- 
thur. "  You  know  he  told  us  he  thought  every 
one  on  the  island  was  hired  to  keep  an  eye  on 
him.  We  are  all  satisfied  so  far,"  he  contin- 
ued, turning  to  the  old  sailor.  "Now,  go 
ahead  and  tell  us  how  you  came  to  take  Roy 
Sheldon  over  to  that  ship  when  you  didn't 
want  to  ? " 


AN   UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  391 

"  Me  and  Bob  never  served  aboard  that  ship 
till  we  was  shanghaied  on  her,"  answered 
Tony,  ' '  but  we  had  heard  enough  about  her  to 
make  our  hair  stand  on  end.  She  was  so  rot- 
ten in  some  places  that  you  could  jab  a  knife 
into  her  timbers  the  whole  length  of  the  blade, 
and  the  companies  wouldn't  put  a  cent  of  in- 
surance on  her,  and  nobody  but  such  reckless 
men  as  Cap'n  Jack  and  his  mates  would  sail  on 
her.  They  got  good  pay  for  doing  it,  and  for 
shipping  crews  against  their  will  and  holding  a 
still  tongue  about  the  vessel's  condition.  But 
she's  gone  now,"  said  Tony,  rubbing  his  horny 
hands  together  almost  gleefully,  "  and  nobody 
will  ever  be  fooled  with  her  again.  She  sprung 
a  leak  in  less'n  half  a  gale  'bout  two  hunderd 
miles  off  the  Cape,  and  went  down  like  a  log 
spite  of  all  we  could  do  at  the  pumps.  We 
kept  her  afloat  for  seventy- two  hours,  and  just 
as  we  were  nigh  going  down,  the  brig  Sarah 
West  took  us  off  and  brung  us  into  Ply- 
mouth." 

"  Where  are  you  going  now?"  asked  Roy. 

"  Back  to  the  island  where  our  families  is," 
replied  Tony.  "We  ain't  got  no  place  else  to 


392  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

go,  but  we  ain't  going  to  stay  there.  We'll 
take  our  dunnage  and  go  somewheres  else,  for 
fear  that  the  island  may  sink  into  the  harbor 
with  such  men  aboard  of  it.  We  dassent  stay 
there  no  longer.  If  Rowe  has  got  safe  off, 
knowing  what  he  does,  he'll  kick  up  a  row 
there,  and  if  they'll  let  me  into  court,  I'd  just 
like  to  shove  this  paper  at  the  judge  and  ask 
him  will  he  take  a  squint  at  it,  if  he  wants  to 
see  what  sort  of  a  landshark  that  man  Willis 
is.  We  are  powerful  glad  to  see  you  again," 
he  added,  extending  his  hand  to  Roy,  who 
shook  it  cordially,  ''and  to  know  you  didn't 
come  to  no  harm  all  along  of  our  taking  you 
aboard  the  White  Squall." 

After  this  Tony  went  on  with  his  story,  to 
which,  in  order  to  make  it  plain  to  you,  I  will 
add  a  few  things  that  he  did  not  know.  They 
came  out  months  afterward,  but  this  is  the 
place  to  speak  of  them. 

Although  the  housekeeper  and  all  the  people 
who  were  on  the  jetty  when  the  yacht  arrived 
were  willing  to  believe  that  Roy  Sheldon  was 
really  Rowe  Shelly,  Willis  himself  was  per- 
fectly well  satisfied  that  he  and  Babcock  had 


At*  UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  393 

made  the  biggest  kind  of  a  blunder.  The 
question  was:  How  should  he  get  out  of  his 
difficulty  ?  Willis  looked  everywhere  for 
Benny,  who  was  his  right-hand  man  in  all  emer- 
gencies ;  but  that  worthy  had  gone  over  to  the 
city  that  afternoon,  and  would  probably  return 
on  a  hired  tug  some  time  in  the  morning.  You 
will  remember  that  while  Mrs.  Moffatt  was 
talking  to  Roy,  and  urging  him  to  let  her  send 
up  a  lunch  to  that  he  might  have  a  bite  handy 
in  case  he  became  hungry  before  morning,  the 
superintendent  paced  the  room  lost  in  thought. 
As  he  looked  at  the  matter,  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  that  Roy  should  be  got  rid  of  before 
daylight,  and  so  effectually  that  no  trace  of 
him  could  be  discovered.  The  superintendent's 
first  thought  was  to  drug  him,  put  him  into  a 
boat,  and  shove  him  out  into  the  harbor  in  time 
for  the  storm,  which  was  already  muttering  in 
the  distance,  to  blow  him  to  sea.  But  that 
would  involve  too  many  risks  of  a  rescue, 
and  Willis  at  last  decided  to  hold  to  his  orig- 
inal plan  and  "take  Tony  into  his  confi- 
dence." 
When  he  went  downstairs  with  Mrs.  Moffatt 


394  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

he  left  the  house  and  hurried  to  Tony's  cabin 
on  the  beach. 

"  The  minute  he  come  into  the  door  I  knew 
there  was  something  the  matter  of  him,"  said 
the  sailor,  "  for  I  had  never  seen  him  look  so 
queer  and  wild  before  ;  but  how  he  ever  made 
out  to  pull  the  wool  over  my  eyes  and  Bob's 
as  he  done  by  the  ridikilis  tale  he  told  us,  is 
something  I  can't  now  get  through  my  head. 
Nuther  can  Bob,  and  we've  talked  about  it  a 
hunderd  times  or  more.  Seems  now  that  we'd 
oughter  known  it  wasn't  so,  but  we  didn't. 
*  Boys,'  says  he,  mighty  .soft  and  palavering 
like,  but  all  the  while  acting  as  though  there 
wasn'  t  nothing  wrong,  *  I  want  you  to  do 
something  for  me.  Two  weeks  ago  Cap'n  Jack 
Rowan  of  the  White  Squall  borrered  five 
hundred  dollars  of  the  old  man  (that  was 
Colonel  Shelly,  you  know),  and  the  old  man 
told  me  to  be  sure  and  get  it  of  him  before  he 
sailed.  While  I  was  in  the  city  I  got  a  letter 
from  the  cap'n  stating  that  if  I  would  send  for 
the  money  to-night,  I  could  have  it ;  so  I  want 
you  and  Bob  to  take  Howe  and  go  and  get  it. 
I'll  give  him  an  order  for  it.  Be  lively,  for 


AN  UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  395 

there'll  be  a  gale  on  in  an  hour  or  so.'  That 
was  what  Willis  said  to  me  and  Bob ;  and 
although  we  didn't  much  like  the  idef5  of  going 
aboard  the  White  Squall,  knowing  what  sort 
of  a  chap  Cap'n  Jack  was,  we  told  him  we'd 
go,  like  a  couple  of  fools.  'All  right,'  says 
he.  'You  get  the  boat  ready,  and  I'll  go  and 
tell  Howe  to  hurry  up.  But  mind,  you 
mustn't  say  one  word  to  him  where  you're 
going.  If  you  do,  he'll  stay  ashore  and  I 
won't  get  that  money.'  And  then  what  does 
that  old  scamp  do,"  exclaimed  Tony,  with 
rising  indignation,  "but  runup  to  the  house 
and  write  this  here  letter  to  Cap'n  Jack,  telling 
him  that  hero  was  three  men  for  him,  and  he'd 
best  take  us  along  without  asking  no  questions." 

"  Then  he  came  into  the  room  where  I  was 
and  told  me  a  funny  story,  too,"  said  Roy, 
who  was  listening  with  all  his  ears.  "  I  should 
like  to  know  who  came  in  with  him,  and  what 
the  pair  of  them  would  have  done  if  I  had  not 
awakened  just  as  I  did." 

"  I  guess  it  was  Benny,"  said  Bob ;  and  he 
guessed  right.  ' '  Them  two  is  both  tarred  with 
the  same  stick." 


396  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

Benny  was  ashore,  as  I  told  you,  and  by  the 
merest  chance  met  the  detective  Babcock,  who 
made  a  clean  breast  of  the  whole  business  ; 
whereupon  Benny  hired  a  tug,  and  started  for 
home.  By  the  time  he  got  there  he  was  as 
frightened  as  was  his  father,  whom  he  met 
setting  out  for  Tony's  house. 

"You  needn't  waste  words  with  me,"  said 
the  dutiful  son,  the  minute  he  saw  that  his 
sire  was  about  to  begin  a  lengthy  explana- 
tion. "  I  saw  Bab,  and  he  told  me  all  about 
it.  You  are  a  pretty  pair,  I  must  say.  Who 
is  this  chap  who  looks  so  much  like  Rowe,  and 
what  are  you  going  to  do  with  him  ?  " 

"His  name  is  Roy  Sheldon,  and  he  is  a 
Mount  Airy  wheelman,"  replied  Willis.  "I 
am  going  to  send  him  to  sea  on  the  White 
Squall." 

"The  very  plan  I  had  in  my  own  head," 
saie  Benny,  approvingly.  "Who's  going  to 
take  him  there's" 

"I  thought  of  asking  Tony  and  Bob.  I'll 
offer—" 

"Don't  offer  them  a  cent,"  interrupted 
Benny.  "Tell  them  to  go  and  get  five  him- 


AN    UNEXPECTED   MEETING.  397 

clred  dollars  that  Cap'n  Jack  borrowed  of  the 
old  man,  and  send  this  wheelman  along  as 
Howe  Shelly,  to  get  it.  Understand  \  " 

No  ;  the  superintendent  did  not  quite  grasp 
his  son's  meaning,  and  he  was  afraid  Roy 
might  not  be  willing  to  personate  Howe  Shelly. 
It  took  Benny  a  long  time  to  explain,  but  he 
succeeded  at  last,  and  then  he  asked  his  father 
if  there  was  not  some  way  in  which  he  could 
get  a  glimpse  of  Roy  so  that  he  could  satisfy 
himself  that  a  mistake  had  been  made.  This 
was  the  way  he  came  to  be  introduced  into 
the  presence  of  the  young  wheelman,  who  was 
fast  asleep.  The  moment  Benny's  eyes  rested 
upon  the  boy's  face  he  knew  he  had  never 
seen  him  before. 

"  You've  done  it  as  sure  as  the  world,"  said 
lie,  in  a  savage  whisper.  "Get  rid  of  him. 
Send  him  to  the  White  Squall,  and  have  Tony 
and  Bob  shanghaied  at  the  same  time,  or  they 
will  get  you  into  deeper  trouble.  Wake  him 
up,  tell  him  you  have  found  out  who  he  is,  and 
say  that  you're  going  to  send  him  back  to  his 
friends.  In  that  way  you  can  get  him  off 
without  any  fuss,  and — " 


398  THE   STEEL   IIOESE. 

Just  then  Roy  stirred  in  his  sleep,  and 
Benny  took  to  his  heels,  barely  having  time  to 
close  the  door  behind  him  before  the  boy  was 
wide-awake. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

u  -J3  ENNY  is  old  man  Willis's  son,"  Tony 
I  s  hastened  to  explain.  "  If  you  was  to 
shake  'em  both  up  in  a  hat,  it  is  hard  to  tell 
which  one  of  'em  would  come  out  first  for 
meanness.  That's  our  story,  sir.  You  know 
what  happened  after  we  got  aboard  the  White 
Squall." 

"  What  did  Willis  mean  when  he  called  you 
off  on  one  side  saying  that  he  had  an  order  for 
you  ? "  inquired  Roy.  "  Did  he  want  me  to 
believe  that  he  was  about  to  send  you  to  the 
city  for  goods  ? " 

"I  don't  know  what  he  meant  you  should 
believe  ;  he  jest  wanted  to  give  me  a  few  part- 
ing instructions.  He  said  you  didn't  much 
like  the  idee  of  going  out  in  that  wind,  and 
that  if  you  raised  a  fuss  about  it  after  we  got 
started,  we  must  quiet  you  by  saying  that  we 
dassent  turn  around  for  fear  of  of  a  capsize. 


400  THE   STEEL   IIOKSE. 

He  said,  furder,  that  we  mustn't  talk  to  you 
more'n  we  could  help,  for  you'd  kick  if  you 
found  you  was  going  aboard  the  White  Squall. 
He  said  you  had  the  order  for  the  money  in 
your  pocket,  and  what  was  writ  on  the  paper 
he  give  me  was  meant  to  hurry  Cap'n  Jack  up, 
so't  we  could  get  back  to  the  island  before  the 
wind  riz  any  higher.  But  t' wasn't  no  such 
thing,"  continued  Tony,  wrathful!  y.  "  It 
told  Cap'n  Jack  to  take  us  to  sea  and  say 
nothing  about  it." 

"And  were  you  stupid  enough  to  believe 
that  our  friend  Roy  was  Howe  Shelly  ?  You 
stood  within  arm's-length  of  him,  and  it  looks 
to  me  as  if  you  ought  to  have  seen  at  a  glance 
that  it  wasn't  any  one  you  knew,"  said  Arthur, 
forgetting  that  he  had  once  stood  within  less 
than  arm's-length  of  Howe  Shelly,  and  never 
suspected  that  he  wasn'  t  Roy  Sheldon  until  he 
had  come  pretty  near  being  thrown  on  his 
head. 

"  We  never  knew  the  difference,"  said  Tony, 
earnestly, "  for  the  reason  that  we  didn't  know 
there  was  anything  wrong.  We  knew  Rowe 
had  run  away,  and  as  me  and  Bob  supposed 


CONCLUSION.  401 

that  he  had  been  ketched  and  brung  back,  like 
he  was  before,  \ve  didn't  ask  no  questions.  Of 
course  we  thought  it  was  Howe  that  we  were 
going  to  take  off  to  the  ship  after  that  money, 
and  why  should  we  not  ?  How  could  we  tell 
one  from  t'other  when  the  night  was  so  dark, 
and  they  were  both  dressed  alike  and  the  wind 
bio  wed  so  loud  that  we  couldn't  recognize  his 
voice  ? " 

"  What  did  you  think  when  you  saw  him 
jump  into  the  harbor  \ "  inquired  Joe. 

"  Well,  sir,  we  was  scared  to  death,  and 
there  isn't  no  manner  of  sense  in  saying  we 
wasn't.  We  wouldn't  never  dared  to  show 
our  faces  in  New  London  again  if  I  hadn't 
found  this  letter,  'cause  we'd  been  afraid  that 
we  might  be  tooken  up  for  trying  to  make  way 
with  Howe,  though  Lord  knows  we  wouldn't 
a  raised  a  finger  against  him.  What's  writ 
onto  this  here  paper  will  clear  us,  won't  it, 
sir?" 

"  I  think  it  will ;  but  if  you  need  any  more 
evidence,  drop  a  line  to  me.  I  will  give  you 
my  address,"  said  Roy.  "What  made  you 
back  away  from  me  when  I  got  off  my  wheel 

26 


402  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

and  walked  toward  you  ?  Did  you  think  I 
was  a  ghost?" 

"  I  ain't  quite  sure  that  there  is  such  things 
as  ghosts  in  the  world,"  replied  Tony,  ' '  though 
in  my  time  I've  talked  to  more'n  one  who  has 
seen  'em  ;  but  wouldn't  you  feel  kinder  oneasy 
under  them  circumstances?  We  took  you 
aboard  the  ship  a  purpose,  like  we  told  you, 
but  we  didn't  do  it  to  get  you  used  like  you 
was." 

"Then  you  knew  that  ship  was  the  White 
Squall,  and  that  she  was  not  going  into  the 
harbor  for  shelter  ? "  said  Joe. 

"  Course  we  did,  sir.  What  would  any  craft 
want  to  run  from  a  fair  sailing  wind  like  that 
for  ?  We  knew  she  was  going  to  sea,  and  was 
in  a  hurry  to  get  you  aboard  so't  you  could 
get  the  money  we  thought  you  wanted.  We 
thought  it  kinder  queer  'cause  you  didn't  give 
the  cap'n  the  order  when  I  give  him  the  letter, 
but  Ave  didn't  mistrust  anything  till  we  seen 
you  go  overboard.  Of  course  we  knew  before 
that,  that  we  had  all  been  shanghaied ;  but 
what  I  mean  is,  that  we  never  mistrusted  till 
then  that  mebbe  you  wasn't  Kowe  Shelly. 


CONCLUSION.  403 

We  didn't  think  he'd  have  the  pluck  to  jump 
overboard,  for  he  isn't  much  of  a  boy  forgoing 
a  swimming.  When  we  was  running  into 
Plymouth  some  of  them  Bethel  fellers  flung 
a  lot  of  papers  aboard  of  us,  and  me  and  Bob 
happened  to  get  hold  of  one  that  told  us  all 
about  it,  only  it  didn't  say  anything  about 
Rowe  Shelly.  Ain't  your  name  Peter  Smith  ?  " 

"Not  much,"  replied  Roy,  with  a  laugh. 
"  But  I  am  the  fellow  who  jumped  overboard, 
all  the  same.  Now,  what  induced  you  two  to 
tramp  back  to  New  London  instead  of  ship- 
ping on  some  vessel  that  would  take  you 
there?" 

"There  are  two  reasons  for  it,"  answered 
Tony.  "In  the  first  place,  there  wasn't  no 
ship  in  port  that  was  going  where  we  wanted 
to  go  ;  and  in  the  next,  we've  had  enough  of 
the  water  and  thought  we'd  like  to  stay  on 
shore  for  a  spell.  You  see,  we  ain't  by  no 
means  as  young  as  we  used  to  be,  and  can't 
stand  the  hard  knocks  as  well.  We  never  got 
a  blow  after  we  was  drove  for'ard  that  night, 
'cause  we  know  what  a  sailor  man's  duty  is 
and  we  done  it ;  but  them  was  a  rough  lot  of 


404  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

officers,  I  tell  you.  Do  you  know  where  Howe 
Shelly  is  now  ?" 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  we  don't,"  replied  Ar- 
thur. "  We  hoped  to  hear  from  him  before 
this  time,  but  if  he  has  written  us,  the  letter 
hasn't  caught  up  with  us.  But  we  can  tell  you 
one  thing  :  when  you  get  back  to  the  island 
you'll  not  find  matters  as  they  were  when  you 
left.  My  two  friends  here  saw  Rowe,  mistook 
him  for  me  just  as  Willis  and  Babcock  mistook 
me  for  Rowe,  had  a  long  talk  with  him,  and 
put  some  ideas  into  his  head.  Colonel  Shelly 
will  have  to  give  up  Rowe's  money  and  get 
out  of  that — you'll  see  ;  and  if  Captain  Shelly 
is  still  alive,  he  will  come  to  that  island  and 
take  possession." 

Joe  Wayring  and  his  friends  spent  the  best 
part  of  the  afternoon  in  Tony's  company  and 
Bob's,  and  did  not  take  leave  of  them  until 
they  had  learned  as  much  of  Rowe  Shell  y's 
history  as  the  men  were  able  to  tell  them.  They 
also  asked  after  Captain  Jack  ;  but  that  worthy 
and  his  mates  had  disappeared  the  moment  the 
Sarah  West  had  reached  the  wharf  at  Ply- 
mouth, and  Tony  could  not  say  where  they 


CONCLUSION.  405 

were.  No  doubt  they  had  gone  to  New  Lon- 
don on  the  cars,  while  the  foremast  hands,  hav- 
ing no  money  at  their  command,  had  to  ship 
again  as  soon  as  they  could,  or  turn  tramps  for 
a  season  as  Tony  and  Bob  had  done.  Roy  gave 
them  his  address,  advised  them  to  use  all  the 
means  in  their  power  to  open  communication 

9 

with  Howe  when  they  reached  the  city,  and 
stand  by  to  aid  him  in  getting  his  rights  ;  and 
then  he  and  his  friends  shared  their  small  stock 
of  money  with  them,  and  once  more  turned 
their  faces  toward  Mount  Airy." 

4 'Didn't  I  tell  you  that  you  were  taken 
aboard  the  White  Squall  on  purpose  ?  "  said 
Joe,  as  they  shot  around  the  first  bend  in  the 
road  and  left  the  sailers  out  of  sight.  "  I  guess 
you  are  willing  to  believe  it  now." 

"  And  I  think  you  are  equally  willing  to  be- 
lieve that  I  was  right  when  I  said  that  Tony 
and  Bob  were  shanghaied  the  same  as  I  was," 
retorted  Roy.  "  That  man  Willis  is  a  schemer 
from  way  back.  I  shall  always  think  that  the 
easiest  way  for  him  to  get  out  of  his  difficulty 
would  have  been  to  sencl  me  ashore,  as  I 
thought  he  was  going  to  do.  I  never  would 


406  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

have  made  Mm  trouble,  for  up  to  the  time  I 
was  sent  aboard  that  ship  I  was  treated  as  well 
as  I  wanted  to  be." 

"  I  think  Willis  was  afraid  he  would  lose  his 
situation  if  he  told  the  colonel  that  he  had 
made  a  mistake,  captured  the  wrong  boy,  and 
given  Howe  a  chance  to  get  away,"  said  Ar- 
thur. 

"I  don't  see  why  he  should  be,  for  if  I  un- 
derstand the  situation,  his  employer  would  not 
dare  discharge  him,"  continued  Roy.  "  For 
some  reason  or  other  Willis  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  only  thing  he  could  do  was  to  get  rid 
of  me  ;  he  was  afraid  to  hire  Tony  and  Bob  to 
take  me  aboard  that  ship  and  leave  me  there, 
for  that  would  give  them  a  hold  upon  him  ; 
so  he  thought  the  best  way  was  to  get  rid  of 
the  whole  of  us  in  a  lump.  I  will  say  this 
much  for  Willis :  he  came  pretty  near  doing 
it.  I  felt  tolerable  mad  at  Tony  and  Bob  when 
you  fellows  suggested  that  they  had  been  hired 
to  have  me  kidnapped,  and  here  I've  gone  and 
divided  my  last  dollar  with  them." 

"  And  we  felt  just  as  angry  at  Howe  for  get- 
ting you  into  a  scrape,  and  yet  we  are  ready  to 


CONCLUSION.  407 

standby  Mm,"  said  Joe.  "On  the  whole,  I 
am  satisfied  with  w£at  we  have  done  on  this 
trip." 

I  thought  he  had  reason  to  be.  There  was 
no  one  along  the  route  who  knew  what  Joe  had 
done  to  avert  that  railroad  disaster,  but  the 
folks  at  home  had  been  posted  before  this  time. 
On  the  day  they  left  Plymouth  Arthur  and 
Roy  mailed  the  full  details  of  Joe's  "Wild 
Ride,"  but  the  latter  knew  nothing  of  it  until 
a  week  had  passed,  and  they  stopped  for  the 
night  at  a  railway  station  where  they  found 
their  trunks  and  a  package  of  mail  waiting 
for  them.  When  Joe  glanced  at  his  mother's 
letter  beginning:  "My  dear  boy,  how  could 
you  do  it  ?  I  am  frightened  every  time  I  think 
of  it,"  and  the  first  line  of  Uncle  Joe's,  which 
ran:  "I  am  proud  of  my  brave  namesake. 
You  have  covered  yourself  with  glory  enough 
for  one  summer,  and  had  better  come  home  and 
relieve  your  mother's  anxiety,"  he  knew  just 
what  had  been  going  on,  and  congratulated 
himself  on  having  escaped  return  orders  until 
his  face  was  toward  Mount  Airy.  All  he  said 
to  his  friends  was  : 


408  THE   STEEL  HORSE. 

"  You  fellows  spread  ink  a  trifle  too  freely 
while  we  were  in  Plymouth.  If  I  had  sus- 
pected it,  I  would  have  dropped  the  pair  of 
you  over  the  end  of  the  pier  like  a  couple  of 
kittens." 

"Perhaps  that  wouldn't  have  been  so  easy, 
either,"  replied  Arthur.  "More  than  twenty 
days'  steady  wheeling  has  brought  us  a  toler- 
able muscle,  I  want  you  to  remember.  But 
what's  the  odds?  It  was  bound  to  come  out, 
and  Roy  and  I  kept  still  about  it  until  we  were 
homeward  bound.  When  you  write  all  you've 
got  to  do  is  to  tell  Uncle  Joe  we're  coming." 

Joe  wrote  that  very  night,  and  his  letter 
contained  a  complete  history  of  Roy's  doings 
in  New  London  harbor,  and  told  how  Arthur 
had  come  near  getting  them  into  serious  trou- 
ble by  shooting  Matt  Coyle's  watch-dogs.  He 
omitted  nothing,  and  when  he  finished,  he 
flattered  himself  that  he  had  described  the 
thing  in  language  so  graphic  that  Roy  and 
Arthur  would  be  invited  to  expedite  their 
return. 

The  next  time  they  came  up  with  their  let- 
ters, they  also  found  papers  containing  some 


CONCLUSION.  409 

surprising  as  well  as  gratifying  intelligence. 
Every  man  in  the  Buster  band,  including  Matt 
Coyle  and  his  gang  of  train -wreckers,  had  been 
arrested  and  put  under  lock  and  key.  Acting 
upon  the  advice  given  him  by  the  young 
wheelmen,  Mr.  Holmes  had  gone  to  New  Lon- 
don and  identified  his  property ;  that  is,  the 
implements  that  had  been  used  to  force  that 
big  rock  from  its  bed  and  roll  it  upon  the 
track.  It  was  by  his  suggestion  (which  in  the 
first  place  came  from  one  of  our  three  friends, 
as  you  will  remember)  that  a  couple  of  officers, 
disguised  as  tramp  hunters,  came  to  Glen's 
Falls  and  proceeded  to  "spot"  every  man 
they  wanted.  More  strange  tramps  came  in  at 
intervals,  and  when  the  officers,  for  that  was 
what  they  really  were,  were  nearly  equal  in 
number  to  the  law-breakers,  they  "corralled 
the  whole  business  and  ran  them  in."  To 
quote  from  Roy  Sheldon,  who  was  so  highly 
excited  that  he  wanted  to  yell,  it  was  a 
"pretty  slick  scheme,"  and  by  the  time  Matt 
was  through  serving  the  sentence  that  would 
surely  be  passed  upon  him,  they  would  no 
longer  stand  in  any  fear  of  him,  for  they 


410  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

would  be  big  enough  to  punch  his  head  if  he 
didn't  let  them  alone. 

"  But  I  am  really  afraid  our  friend  Bigden 
will  see  fun  now,"  said  Roy,  in  conclusion. 
"If  Matt  gets  half  a  chance  he  will  tell  all  he 
knows." 

"I  don't  believe  the  things  he  did  in  the 
Indian  Lake  country  will  be  brought  against 
him,"  said  Joe."  "He'll  come  in  for  trying 
to  wreck  the  train  ;  and  by  the  time  he  has 
been  punished  for  that,  he  won' t  want  to  get 
into  any  more  scrapes," 

"And  where  will  we  come  in?  Look  here, 
Bub,"  exclaimed  Roy,  shaking  his  finger  at 
Joe.  "When  you  took  that  unworthy  revenge 
upon  Art  and  me,  and  told  your  mother  what 
we  have  done  and  suffered  since  we  have  been 
on  the  road,  you  told  her  that  we  laid  in  the 
bushes  and  heard  all  Matt  and  his  fellow 
rascals  had  to  say,  didn'  t  you  ?  I  thought  as 
much.  Well,  that  will  be  sure  to  come  out, 
with  all  the  rest  of  the  things,  and  the  last  one 
of  us  will  be  subpoenaed.  If  any  one  of  us 
spread  ink  too  freely,  you  are  the  man." 

"I  didn't  see  Matt  that  night,"  protested 


CONCLUSION.  411 

Joe,  "for  it  was  so  dark  I  couldn't  see  any- 
body." 

"No  matter,  you  heard  his  voice.  You  will 
be  called  upon  to  tell  how  you  knew  it  was  his 
voice,  and  all  that,  and  the  first  thing  you 
know  there'll  be  something  wormed  out  of  you 
that  you  don't  mean  to  tell." 

Joe  Wayring  did  not  like  to  think  about 
that,  but  still  he  did  not  eat  or  sleep  any  the 
less  for  fear  of  it.  He  enjoyed  the  homeward 
run  and  so  did  his  friends,  for  they  had  done 
what  they  set  out  to  do,  and  more  too. 
They  stopped  for  one  night  at  the  Lafayette 
House,  and  spent  the  evening  at  the  Academy 
of  Music  ;  but  there  was  no  detective  waiting 
to  take  one  of  them  by  the  arm  when  they 
came  out,  and  neither  did  they  meet  any  one 
who  could  give  them  any  information  concern- 
ing Rowe  Shelly.  They  sent  a  despatch  to 
their  parents,  telling  where  they  were,  and 
when  they  would  be  home,  and  the  result  was 
that  about  three  miles  out  of  Moun  Airy  they 
found  a  delegation  of  wheelmen  waiting  for 
them.  Of  course  the  drug-store  crowd  was  not 
represented,  but  Tom  Bigden  and  his  cousins 


412  THE  STEEL  HORSE. 

were  there.  Joe  thought  he  knew  what  Tom 
had  come  for,  and  was  made  sure  of  it  when 
Tom  ranged  alongside  of  him,  after  a  short 
halt  had  been  made  and  the  hand-shaking  was 
over,  and  in  a  roundabout  way  began  making 
inquiries  concerning  Matt  Coyle.  Joe  was 
sorry  he  couldn't  tell  much  about  him,  but  he 
said  enough  to  set  Tom's  fears  at  rest.  He 
declared — not  as  if  he  thought  Tom  had  the 
least  interest  in  the  matter,  but  merely  as  an 
item  of  news — that  he  would  not  prosecute 
Matt  for  stealing  his  canoe  or  tying  him  to  a 
tree,  because  he  would  have  enough  to  answer 
for  when  he  was  brought  up  for  putting  that 
rock  on  the  railroad  track.  Joe  was  not 
revengeful,  but  he  did  want  to  see  the  squatter 
punished  for  that. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  Tom  Bigden 
breathed  easier  after  his  talk  with  Joe,  and 
when  he  left  the  latter  at  his  gate  and  told  him 
he  was  glad  he  and  his  friends  had  had  an  en- 
joyable run  and  come  safely  home,  in  spite  of 
everybody  and  everything  that  had  tried  to 
hinder  them,  the  words  came  from  his  heart. 
Tom  had  been  on  nettles  ever  since  he  read  in 


CONCLUSION.  413 

the  papers  that  Matt  was  still  alive,  and  in  a 
fair  way  to  be  brought  to  justice,  and  although 
he  felt  relieved,  he  knew  he  would  not  sleep 
soundly  until  Matt' s  trial  was  over  and  prison 
doors  had  closed  upon  him. 

"  Six  hundred  and  forty -two  miles  in  thirty- 
five  days,"  said  Joe,  when  he  had  kissed  his 
mother  and  shaken  hands  with  every  one  who 
was  on  the  back  porch.  "A  little  over  eigh- 
teen miles  a  day.  That  wouldn't  be  anything 
to  brag  of  if  the  roads  had  been  good  all  the 
way ;  but  when  you  take  the  mountains  and 
long  patches  of  sand  into  consideration — " 

"  And  Matt  Coyle  and  the  train-wreckers," 
added  Uncle  Joe. 

"  They  didn't  delay  us  any  to  speak  of,"  re- 
plied the  young  wheelman,  "  but  that  Roy 
Sheldon,  with  his  black  eyes  and  lame  arm,  did. 
Well,  I'  m  glad  to  get  back,  and  why  don' t  you 
say  you  are  glad  to  see  me  ?  " 

Every  one  of  them  had  said  so  more  than 
once,  for  I  had  heard  them,  and  besides,  they 
showed  it  very  plainly  by  their  actions.  Every- 
body in  town  was  glad  to  see  him,  and  he  had 
so  much  visiting  to  do  that  for  a  time  I  was 


414  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

entirely  neglected.  One  morning  I  had  a 
chance  to  say  "hello!"  to  the  Canvas  Canoe 
and  Fly-rod  as  they  were  carried  across  the 
porch  and  down  the  path  that  led  to  the  lake, 
and  when  they  returned  at  dark  I  exchanged  a 
few  words  with  them  before  they  were  taken  up- 
stairs. In  as  few  words  as  possible  I  told  them 
where  I  had  been  and  what  I  had  seen  during 
my  long  absence,  and  in  return  Fly-rod  told 
me  that  he  had  that  day  seen  two  old  acquaint- 
ances ;  or  as  he  expressed  it,  "the  whole  of 
one  and  a  part  of  the  other." 

"In  the  show-case  in  which  I  stood  before 
Joe  Wayring  bought  me,  were  a  couple  of 
high-priced  lads,  a  split-bamboo  and  a  double- 
barrel  shot-gun,  who  wouldn't  say  a  civil  word 
to  me  because  I  was  worth  only  six  dollars  and 
a  half,"  said  Fly-rod,  with  a  ring  of  triumph 
in  his  tones.  "  The  gun  was  purchased  by  a 
dude  who  went  into  the  woods  because  it  was 
fashionable,  and  the  bamboo  became  the  prop- 
erty of  one  of  the  handsomest  little  girls  you 
ever  saw.  Well,  I  saw  that  rod  to-day  lying 
flat  in  the  mud,  while  his  owner  was  paddling 
in  the  water  Avith  bare  feet.  He  was  rusted  all 


CONCLUSION.  415 

over  where  there  was  anything  to  rust,  and  you 
could  see  daylight  between  his  ribs  where  they 
had  been  glued  together.  He  was  ashamed  to 
speak  to  me,  for  he  had  boasted  that  he  was 
going  to  Canada  to  do  battle  with  the  lordly 
salmon.  A  little  while  afterward  we  heard  a 
booming  up  the  lake  and  saw  a  commotion  in 
a  boat  whose  crew  were  engaged  in  shooting 
wood-ducks.  The  Canvas  Canoe  took  us  up 
there  in  a  hurry,  and  we  found  that  a  gun  had 
burst  in  the  hands  of  one  of  the  part}7 — the  very 
dude  who  bought  that  double- barrel  shot-gun. 
There  wasn1 1  much  left  of  the  gun,  nothing  but 
the  stock  and  locks,  in  fact,  but  I  knew  him. 
The  dude  wasn't  hurt,  for  a  wonder,  but  he 
was  mad,  and  the  minute  he  recovered  from 
the  fright  into  which  he  had  been  thrown,  he 
grabbed  the  wreck  of  that  gun  and  sent  it  as 
for  as  he  could  into  the  bushes.  Here  /  am, 
sound  as  a  dollar,  thanks  to  the  good  treatment 
I  have  received,  supple  as  ever  and  ready  to 
catch  another  black  bass  any  time  I  am  called 
upon." 

The  next  thing  that  interested  me  was  hear- 
ing a  letter  from  Howe  Shelly  read  on  the 


416  THE   STEEL   HORSE. 

porch.  He  hadn't  written  before  for  the  very 
good  reason  that  he  had  nothing  to  say;  and 
although  he  had  plenty  now,  lie  had  no  time 
to  say  it,  for  he  was  going  after  his  father  and 
mother  who  were  alive  and  well,  but  poor 
owing  to  ill  health.  He  went  into  hiding,  as 
Joe  said  he  did,  and  found  a  lawyer  to  interest 
himself  in  his  case ;  but  although  the  latter 
went  to  work  very  quietly,  Colonel  Shelly  and 
Willis  and  Benny  had  taken  the  alarm  and 
cleared  out.  His  parents  had  been  advertised 
for  and  found,  and  Howe  was  going  to  them 
by  the  first  train.  He  would  have  more  to  tell 
them  in  .his  next  letter,  and  wanted  them,  one 
and  all,  to  get  ready  to  visit  him  the  minute  he 
sent  them  word.  He  owed  them  everything 
he  had,  or  was  going  to  have,  and  they  would 
see  that  he  wasn't  the  boy  to  forget  such 
things. 

And  neither  did  Roy  Sheldon  forget  those 
men  on  the  lightship.  Of  course  they  did 
nothing  more  than  their  duty  when  they  pulled 
Roy  out  of  the  water  and  took  care  of  him,  but 
that  did,  not  lessen  the  boy's  gratitude  nor  his 
father's,  either.  Mr.  Sheldon  made  it  his  busi- 


CONCLUSION.  417 

ness  to  drop  into  a  bank  shortly  after  Roy 
came  home,  and  when  he  left  it  those  old  sea 
dogs  had  a  handsome  sum  of  money  to  draw 
on,  though  they  were  advised  to  let  it  accu- 
mulate so  that  they  would  have  something  to 
fall  back  upon  when  they  became  too  old  to 
attend  to  the  lightship. 

Before  I  went  into  winter  quarters  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  everything  had 
turned  out  just  as  Joe  Wayring  and  his  friends 
wished.  Howe  Shelly  found  his  parents  and 
easily  established  their  identity,  with  his  law- 
yer' s  help,  and  the  rascally  guardian,  as  well 
as  those  who  aided  him  in  keeping  the  boy  out 
of  his  rights,  wTere  overhauled  before  they  had 
left  the  city  many  miles  behind;  but  they  were 
not  brought  to  trial.  They  simply  surren- 
dered their  ill-gotten  gains,  Captain  Shelly 
took  quiet  possession  of  his  island  home,  and 
that  was  the  end  of  the  matter  so  far  as  they 
were  concerned;  but  the  gossips  had  some- 
thing to  talk  about  for  weeks  afterward.  Joe 
Wayring  and  his  friends  were  not  needed 
when  Matt  Coyle  was  brought  before  the  court 
in  Bloomingdale,  for  those  tramp  detectives 

27 


4l8  THE  STEEL   HORSE. 

had  all  the  evidence  they  wanted  to  send  him 
and  his  gang  to  prison.  Then  Tom  Bigden 
felt  safe,  and  I  hope  he  has  turned  over  a  new 
leaf  as  he  has  often  promised  to  do.  Although 
every  one  in  Mount  Airy  heard  of  the  things 
that  George  Prime  threw  up  to  him,  there  were 
few  who  believed  them,  thanks  to  the  way  Joe 
and  his  chums  stuck  to  him  through  thick  and 
thin. 

A  few  days  ago  Howe  Shelly  wrote  that  he 
was  ready  and  waiting  for  Joe  and  the  "rest 
of  his  crowd,"  and  the  sooner  they  came  to  see 
him  the  better  he  would  like  it.  They  will 
accept  the  invitation  for  the  coming  holidays; 
and  if  I  am  any  judge  of  boys'  tastes  they  will 
find  few  topics  of  conversation  that  will  be  of 
more  interest  to  them  than  the  incidents  I 
have  attempted  to  describe  in  my  story,  and 
which  happened  during  THE  RAMBLES  OF  A 
BICYCLE. 

THE  END. 


FAMOUS  STANDARD 
JUVENILE  LIBRARIES, 

'ANY   VOLUME  SOLD  SEPARATELY  AT   $1.00  PER  VOLUME 

(Except  the  Sportsman's  Club  Series,  Frank  Nelson  Series  and 

Jack  Hazard  Series.). 

Each  Volume  Illustrated.     J2mo.    Cloth. 


HORATIO  ALGER,  JR. 

THE  enormous  sales  of  the  books  of  Horatio  Alger,  Jr., 
show  the  greatness  of  his  popularity  among  the  boys,  and 
prove  that  he  is  one  of  their  most  favored  writers.  I  am  told 
that  more  than  half  a  million  copies  altogether  have  been 
sold,  and  that  all  the  large  circulating  libraries  in  the  country 
have  several  complete  sets,  of  which  only  two  or  three  vol- 
umes are  ever  on  the  shelves  at  one  time.  If  this  is  true, 
what  thousands  and  thousands  of  boys  have  read  and  are 
reading  Mr.  Alger's  books  !  His  peculiar  style  of  stories, 
often  imitated  but  never  equaled,  have  taken  a  hold  upon  the 
young  people,  and,  despite  their  similarity,  are  eagerly  read 
as  soon  as  they  appear. 

Mr.  Alger  became  famous  with  the  publication  of  that 
undying  book,  "Ragged  Dick,  or  Street  Life  in  New  York." 
It  was  his  first  book  for  young  people,  and  its  success  was  so 
great  that  he  immediately  devoted  himself  to  that  kind  of 
writing.  It  was  a  new  and  fertile  field  for  a  writer  then,  and 
Mr.  Alger's  treatment  of  it  at  once  caught  the  fancy  of  the 
boys.  "Ragged  Dick"  first  appeared  in  1868,  and  ever  since 
then  it  has  been  selling  steadily,  until  now  it  is  estimated 
that  about  200,000  copies  of  the  series  have  been  sold. 

— Pleasant  Hours  for  Boys  and  Girls, 


7I7TI  I    /»M    I    I    '"I  t*»     i  -     »< 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  It  was  borrowed. 


